


Sanctuary

by house_of_lantis



Series: Vampire!Verse [1]
Category: Actor RPF, Smallville RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Vampire!Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-13
Updated: 2011-04-13
Packaged: 2017-10-18 01:25:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 43,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/house_of_lantis/pseuds/house_of_lantis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in modern day San Francisco; In a world where vampires and humans live together. A new take on the vampire mythology. Jensen is a powerful city Elder vampire; Jared is a human councilman. When Jared is forcibly blood turned, Jensen takes his new lover under his protection and introduces him to Jensen's seductive world of vampire politics, blood, betrayal, and undying, immortal love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: ["Убежище"(*)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141814) by [CallMe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMe/pseuds/CallMe)



San Francisco, California  
Present Day

Jared has always wanted to go to The Sanctuary, but he didn’t want to give the impression that he was looking for favoritism. He believed in equality and fair play; and his studies at Stanford Law and his time as Assistant District Attorney and vampire civil rights activist proved that he was more than prepared to be the city’s councilman. It was a political move on his part, but one that he hoped would advance civil rights for humans and vampires alike. He was quite popular in the city; there was talk of Jared moving through the political ranks, that he was headed for Washington, D.C.

But not tonight.

Tonight, he just wanted to relax. He wanted to be Jared. Having put his suit to bed, he waited in line, enjoying the anonymity from his minor political celebrity status among the crowd of people waiting to get into The Sanctuary, the hottest club in the city. He tucked his hands into his pockets and being a head taller than the tallest guy in line afforded him the chance to just gaze around at people. He was only about 20 people behind the line and saw the club’s door crew watching the line. One of them caught his eye and Jared just smiled and took a step towards the wall and into the shadow of the building. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to recognize him and open the velvet rope. He had enough of that as councilman.

But discretion wasn’t to be his friend tonight. One of the club’s doormen walked slowly down the line towards him.

“If you wouldn’t mind, sir,” the man said.

Jared smiled and shook his head. “It’s all right. It’s just a few more minutes. I don’t mind the wait.”

“Actually, there’s a situation you need to be aware of,” he said, motioning Jared to follow him towards the back of the club.

Jared frowned, but stepped out of line, following the club doorman. He saw that the line for the club extended at least a block down the street. The man led him towards the private door at the back where three men stood as security. A long line of limousines stretched down the back alley in two rows.

“What’s the problem?” Jared said.

“Mr Ackles wouldn’t approve of us letting Councilman Padalecki stand in line,” the bouncer said, motioning to the security. “Club’s reached its capacity for the next three hours, sir. You would’ve had a long wait.”

“If the line is a three hour wait, shouldn’t you tell the people who are waiting to get in?”

The man grinned. “They all know that once it hits ten o’clock that it’s a three hour minimum and they always wait.”

The security guard opened the door and the man led Jared into the club from the back way. Jared followed silently, passing men and women and vampires who lined the various hallways, all turning to gaze at him appreciatively. A part of him was a little embarrassed at the blatant looks he received, letting his long bangs hide part of his face. A lot of people wouldn’t recognize him – he always had his hair brushed back in its usual professional cowlick – but he found their lustful scrutiny to be, well, predatory.

Jared could hear the music now – he was surprised that it wasn’t ear splitting or usual club music. It was jazz and the interior of the club looked like a modern speakeasy from the 1920s – all red velvet and polished woods. Men, women, and vampires were appropriately attired. The long bar was mahogany and brass; the wait staff dressed to the nines like the guests. Jared felt a little more relaxed.

“Would you like a table or a seat at the bar, sir?”

“A seat at the bar – and my name is Jared.”

“Of course,” the man said, leading him across the room to a seat at one end of the bar that would give Jared a clear view of the room. “Your bartender is Chad. Have a good night, Jared.”

“Thank you.”

“The next time that you visit us, just come to the back door and they’ll let you in.”

Jared took a seat and grinned. “I don’t know how I feel about taking advantage like that.”

“Then call ahead and ask for Victor,” he said and handed him a simple business card. “You can always reserve a seat and you won’t be taking advantage.”

Jared took the card and tucked it into his pocket. “Thanks, Victor.” He watched as the bouncer nodded to him and walked towards the front entrance. He stood next to the tall and slender blonde woman who stood in the entrance to the main room. She nodded, looking over at Jared, and then disappeared down a private hallway.

Jared was pretty certain that no one made individual reservations for The Sanctuary.

“What’s your pleasure?”

Jared grinned at the short man with blond hair. “If you show me the LeMarchand puzzle box, I’m so out of here, man.”

Chad laughed, shaking his head. “What can I get you?”

“Whatever beer you have on tap.”

“Sure,” Chad said, taking a clean glass and pouring a generous amount with the right amount of foam at the top. He placed a napkin in front of Jared and placed the drink on the counter. He reached under the bar and placed a small bowl of assorted nuts beside his glass. “First time here?”

“Yeah,” Jared said, taking a sip of beer. “That obvious?”

Chad tapped his forehead. “Photographic memory – I would’ve remembered you in here, Mr Padalecki.”

“Jared. It’s just Jared.”

“You got it.” Chad said, grinning. “Listen, this place is pretty chill. It’s a mixed group, if you know what I mean, and everyone here probably voted for you so you can relax, too.”

Jared let out a chuckle. “Yeah, thanks, okay.”

“I’m Chad, but I gotta go do this thing called bar tendering, but if you need a refill or anything else, just give me a shout. You can explore the other rooms in the club if you want. Lower level has the dance floor and all the hot babes and dudes in tight or minimal clothing. Upstairs is quieter for intimate talking. Hallways are for making out.”

Jared shook his hand and laughed. “Thanks, Chad, appreciate the heads up.”

He relaxed and drank his beer, tossing nuts in his mouth, and looked around the main room. There were velvet booths lining around the club, with small islands of round tables and velvet ottoman-type seats in the center of the main room. There was a cozy stage at the other end of the room where the 5-piece jazz band and singer played interpreted oldies. Jared turned in his seat, leaning his arm on the bar, and noticed that people would turn to look at him. He smiled and acknowledged their notice, but didn’t make the kind of gesture that he was looking for anything more. For now, everyone was giving him a little room to just get used to the club’s atmosphere.

Jared turned in his seat to reach for more nuts when he nearly lurched off his seat. Beside him was Jensen Ackles, club owner, and noted vampire Elder of the city.

“I apologize for startling you,” Jensen said, his voice whiskey honey. He offered Jared a small smile.

“It’s all right,” Jared said, shaking his head. “I should be used to vampires sneaking up on me. I have two on my staff who do it routinely because they think it’s funny to see me jump. I’m also known for giving a ‘girly scream’ as Mike calls it.”

“Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum.” Jensen said, nearly rolling his eyes. “They are a handful. Good luck to you.”

Jared laughed, throwing back his head. He noticed Jensen staring and realized that he had inadvertently invited the vampire Elder to nibble on his neck. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that. I, uh, really need to not give the signal to every vampire in the room to, uh, bite me.”

“Not every vampire.” Jensen’s green eyes seemed to glow as he stared at Jared. “No harm, no foul. I think you’ve already earned a reputation as a tease. You do that quite a lot on television during your press conferences.”

Jared’s eyes widened. “Oh shit! Really? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” He ducked his head and peered at Jensen, seeing the smirk on the vampire’s lips. “You’re just messing with me.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, it’s just so easy. You’d think you’d be used to it with Tom and Mikey on your staff.” Jensen said, smiling widely.

Chad moved towards them and set a red drink in front of Jensen. “Here you go, boss, fresh AB positive, your favorite.”

“Thank you, Chad.”

“Sure, boss.” Chad said, winking at Jared as he slipped away down the bar.

Jared stared at the blood in the wine glass and averted his eyes, trying not to think about how his blood type was a favorite of the elder vampire. “We’ve never formally met,” he said, grinning. “I’m Jared Padalecki.”

Jensen’s hand was warm and his handshake firm. “Jensen Ackles.”

“Thank you for, uh, having your people treat me so well,” Jared said, softly. “It’s not necessary.”

“Well, if my people didn’t treat my guests well, then my people wouldn’t be working in my clubs,” Jensen said, simply. “All of my clubs are mixed clubs, Jared, so the people who work for me aren’t prejudiced and they understand good service.” He stroked his chin for a moment. “And they’re all afraid of me.”

Jared let out a nervous chuckle, not sure how to take that. He drank more of his beer and settled in his seat.

“I am joking, just in case you weren’t certain,” Jensen said, touching Jared’s arm lightly.

“I knew that,” Jared said, snorting. He had to stop himself from throwing back his head to laugh.

“Sure,” the vampire said, smiling as he took a sip of his blood drink.

“The club is awesome, Jensen,” Jared told him, looking around. He turned and was caught by Jensen’s eyes. He blinked a few times, feeling like he lost time, and looked away quickly. He knew that vampires could use their mind powers by locking eyes with humans. He glanced at Jensen again, but didn’t make eye contact.

“Thanks. I’m surprised you waited so long to visit us.”

“Work keeps me busy and I attend enough work-related parties to keep me home on nights when I have some time to myself.”

Jensen sipped his drink. “Yes, I know what you mean.”

Neither was in a rush to fill in the natural pause in conversation. Jared took a moment to review what he knew of Jensen Ackles. He was an elder in the vampire community, one of the oldest vampire living at 450-years, and preternaturally beautiful to boot. Jensen had come to San Francisco about 50 years ago to set up a safe city for his vampire community. Jared remembered reading in the history books that Jensen and many of his vampires were captured, tortured, and nearly died at the hands of humans who didn’t understand what they were. Yet, despite what happened in the past, Jensen had more humanity than those who were human and the vampire rights movement began to take shape, culminating to a point 25 years ago that they won the same civil rights as anyone else. Jared admired that – that the vampire never took out his anger on humanity.

But Jensen Ackles wasn’t a benign vampire ruler. Of course, not all vampires abided the rules and took human victims, killing for blood. Vampires didn’t believe in courts, they had their own laws and their own forms of punishment and justice. Jensen had formed a vampire council of 4 elected vampires and 1 human liaison who would decide on vampire cases, such as murder. Jensen was the one to implement punishments, such as removing the fangs of vampires and exiling them out of the city and vampire community; or for the worst cases, execution by beheading. Vampires were difficult to kill and imprisoning them didn’t work, so Jensen created punishments to fit the crime for vampires. Needless to say, vampire crimes were not very prevalent in the city. What the elder vampire said, rather jokingly, was true – he was feared.

Jared also knew that Jensen was generous and compassionate. He owned 25 clubs around the world, but Jensen chose to make his home in San Francisco and The Sanctuary was his county seat, so to speak. He was a philanthropist who gave to charities and provided social assistance to both vampires and humans. He stayed out of the spotlight if he could help it; and he was a part of the city. He was also beloved by the city.

“So what brought you out into the city tonight, Jared?”

“Well, curiosity, for one. I’ve always wanted to visit The Sanctuary. I prefer to be in a mixed club.”

“And what is your pleasure tonight?” Jensen asked, softly. “Human? Vampire? Both?”

Jared knew he shouldn’t have looked into Jensen’s eyes, but he didn’t think that the elder vampire would use any mind tricks on him. He didn’t think that Jensen would need mind tricks in order to charm or seduce anyone – human or vampire. But Jared couldn’t help but wonder if the glow of Jensen’s green eyes was pulling him in, making him think tempting thoughts of pleasure with Jensen, or if these thoughts were simply Jared feeling desire. Jared could be honest with himself and say that it was his own desire for the vampire.

Taking a deep breath, Jared maintained eye contact with Jensen and tilted his head back, baring his neck. He watched as Jensen narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring, and the green eyes left his to gaze at the long line of Jared’s neck.

“Do you know what you’re offering?”

Jared sat up straight and looked at Jensen. “Can’t you tell?”

“Maybe I want to hear it, Jared, so there’s no miscommunication.”

“I want you,” Jared said, moving to whisper in Jensen’s ear. “I want to know what it’s like when you bite me as you fuck me.”

Jensen’s hand twisted in Jared’s hair, grabbing a fistful but not enough to hurt. He pulled Jared’s head back and licked up his long neck. Jared closed his eyes and moaned, feeling Jensen’s wet tongue on his skin, tasting him.

“You do taste good, Jared, and I would happily indulge your curiosity and taste your blood.” Jensen moved closer to him, pulling his face so that they were at eye level. “But you play a dangerous game with me, boy, to tease me like this in front of everyone. If I wanted to fuck you in the middle of my club with everyone watching, no one would stop me, least of all you. Is that what you want?”

Jared moaned again, hard and leaking in his slacks. “Everything except for the sex in public part sounds good to me, Jensen.”

“You’ve never been with a vampire before.” It was a statement, not a question, but Jared shook his head. “Then you don’t know what my bite will be like for you. It’s addicting, Jared, it’s so addicting. I can make you come so hard and so many times with just one bite. They’ll call you bite-lover and sex will never be the same for you again after me. Is that what you want?”

Jared licked Jensen’s lower lip, his eyes hooded. “Now who’s the tease?”

“Shit,” Jensen murmured, taking a deep breath. He slowly released Jared’s hair, and caressed the back of his neck. “Come with me. Say yes and come with me.”

“Yes,” Jared said, smiling slightly.

Jensen stepped down from his seat and waited for Jared to move. Jared attempted to reach for his wallet to pay for his drink, but Jensen grabbed his wrist and nodded to Chad to take care of it. Jensen didn’t release Jared’s wrist and pulled him gently through the main room towards the private hallway. A security guard stood at the private elevator and he pressed the button to open the doors when he saw Jensen.

***

Jared didn’t remember moving out of the elevator to the leather couch. One minute, his hands were moving over Jensen’s back as he kissed him, tasting the blood lingering on Jensen’s tongue from his drink at the bar; and the next, he was sprawled under the vampire. Jensen’s hands grabbed his wrists and pinned them over Jared’s head. Strong, Jensen was so strong. Jared couldn’t move, the most he could do was wriggle under Jensen’s weight. He felt Jensen’s knee press between his legs, a firm thigh rubbing against his hard cock.

He tore his mouth from Jensen’s to catch his breath, but Jensen sucked his way down Jared’s chin and started to lick oh so slowly up his neck. His tongue was wet and hot, just moving over and over his neck, stroking along the artery under the thin skin, priming him for a bite. Jared wanted it. He wanted to know what it would feel like to have the fangs pierce his flesh and feel Jensen drink his blood.

“Do it,” he said, moaning. “Please, just do it.”

“I can taste your blood, just under your skin, Jared. All I need to do is dip my fangs here and you’ll be mine.” Jensen said, using blunt teeth on his neck. “You want this – you’ve always wanted this, to be here, under me, wanting me to bite you. You’ve dreamed about it, haven’t you? Fucked yourself with your fingers, wondering what it’s like, all those stories you’ve heard, all the vampire porn you’ve watched – wanting it…wanting me. Hmm? Tell me, Jared.”

“Yes.” All of it, just like that, all of it, better than anything he imagined.

He arched his neck, giving Jensen better access, wanting it and wanting it. He pushed past his fear, knowing it would hurt because how could it not. But Jensen’s words at the bar about making him come so hard buzzed across his mind and he didn’t care about the pain. He didn’t care if Jensen drained him dry. He didn’t care about anything except how tight his skin felt, like it was the only thing keeping him together.

He felt two sharp tips slide up his neck. He shivered from pleasure and fear, goosebumps plucking his nerves. Yes, this was it. Jensen would take his blood and take his body. He flinched from the deeper scratches and then moaned deeply, sinking into the cushions.

“Just a little taste of what’s to come,” Jensen said, chuckling softly.

Jared gasped, arching against him, hugging Jensen’s thigh with his knees and moving his hips up and up against him. He could feel Jensen hard against his hip, the vampire’s weight solid and heavy, pinning him to the couch. It was dangerous, submitting to a vampire, never really knowing if he’d make it through alive. But it was a pleasure Jared wanted and he’d take that risk now.

He moaned, trying to pull his wrists from Jensen’s grasp, wanting to touch and clutch against him, but the vampire merely tightened his hold and let out a growl of warning.

“Don’t. Move.” Jensen whispered, licking Jared’s neck again and Jared rode the slight sting from the scratches the fangs left on his skin. His tongue trailed up to Jared’s jaw and detoured to bite his earlobe, then soothed it by sucking it between his lips.

“Fuck,” Jared said, letting out a hiss. “Jensen!”

“Just this once,” the vampire drawled, softly. “Just this once I won’t make you beg for it. I’ll give you all the pleasure you can handle.”

Jensen wrapped one hand around Jared’s wrists and dragged his free hand along Jared’s arm, down along his side, and to his hip. His fingers fisted Jared’s pants, twisting the fabric hard until it pulled tight over Jared’s cock.

“Open your eyes, Jared. Now.” The whiskey honey voice was dark with command, turned husky with sex.

Jared opened his eyes, blinking slightly, and looked into the glowing green eyes above him. He stared for just a second before dropping his gaze at Jensen’s lush mouth, the tips of the vampire’s fangs visible between Jensen’s parted lips. They were so sharp and he was so vulnerable. Jensen could bite him on any part of his body and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop him.

“Do you want this?”

“Why don’t you shut up and fuck me?”

Jensen smirked as his hand twisted the fabric harder, trapping Jared’s cock under the pants, and he pressed his thigh in a delicious slide over and over again, teasing Jared to his limits.

“Oh god, please, do it, do it, Jensen, please! I’m so close!”

And Jensen stilled.

Jared closed his eyes and arched his entire body against Jensen. “Fucking tease! Jensen, please, damn it! Please!”

A woman cleared her throat.

Jared’s eyes opened and he looked at Jensen, who had turned his head to glare at the woman standing by the elevator doors. Jared felt his face flush with heat, mortified at having been caught pinned under Jensen, begging, and on the brink of coming in his pants. He panted softly, trying to pull his wrists from Jensen’s grasp.

“Forgive me for disturbing you, Mr Ackles.” She said, softly, her voice tinged with an English accent. “Mr Jeffrey Morgan is in need of your counsel.”

Jensen released Jared’s wrists and let go of Jared’s pants. He sat back slowly, frowning slightly.

“Where is he?” Jensen said, taking a deep breath.

“I’ve taken the liberty of settling Mr Morgan in your office.”

Jensen gave her a terse nod, rubbing his hand over his face. He looked at Jared. “I’m sorry, Jared, but I can’t let this wait.”

Jared slid along the cushions, turning so that he was sitting up, straightening his clothing. He peered up at the woman and saw that she was the blonde woman from the main room. He was very grateful that she wasn’t looking at him at all.

“Yeah, it’s all right.”

Jensen reached out and grasped his chin, turning Jared’s face towards him. Jared nearly fell off the couch at the intensity of Jensen’s kiss, his tongue sweeping into Jared’s mouth and teeth biting on his lower lip before pulling slowly away.

“I would ask you to stay, but I don’t know how long this meeting will last.”

Jared blinked, trying to get his brain to kick start. “Probably best that I go anyway.”

“Lauren will ensure that you arrive home safely,” Jensen said, but Jared got the feeling that he was saying it to her.

“Of course, sir. Victor will have the car ready.”

Jared stood up when Jensen did. He wanted to untuck his shirt or something, try to hide the fact that his pants were wrinkled beyond repair. He could feel the sticky dampness against his skin.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

Jared nodded. “Sure.”

Jensen curled his hand behind Jared’s neck and kissed him gently. “Good night, Jared.”

“Good night.”

He watched as Jensen moved towards another set of doors, disappearing from the room. He took a deep breath and sighed, then looked at Lauren.

“Would you like to use the bathroom, Mr Padalecki? It’s right through there,” she said, motioning to a door at the other end of the hallway.

“Yeah, just give me a minute.”

“Of course.”

Jared hurried across the living room and down the hall. He opened the door and turned on the lights, stepping in and closing the door behind him. He stared at his reflection in the mirror – his face was flushed, his hair was a mess, his lips were kiss swollen, and his pants was as wrinkled as expected. He looked thoroughly debauched. Everyone would take one look at him and know exactly what happened. Well, not exactly, but it was pretty obvious what people would think.

He turned on the taps and ran his hands under the cool water, cupping his palms to splash water on his face. He hissed a bit from the sting of the water on the scratches left on his neck. He pulled his shirt collar away to look at the four scratch marks on his neck, left behind by Jensen’s fangs. He caressed them with his fingertips, shivering from the pleasure. He closed his eyes, stroking his neck, remembering how it felt when Jensen ran his fangs up his neck. He was getting harder again so he shut off the taps and reached for the small hand towel, drying his face and hands.

He tried to set his hair in some semblance of order and looked at his reflection again, taking a deep breath. Right. He’d catch a ride home, jerk off, shower, and go to bed. What the hell was he thinking anyway? Why on earth did he think that his sex life would be any better with a vampire than looking for human companionship? His last serious relationship was five years ago and with work taking up all of his time, he had no idea that he was going through a dry spell until Tom brought it up.

And Jensen – Jesus – what the hell was Jared doing issuing a sexual challenge to a vampire – and not just any ordinary vampire - but to the vampire Elder? It was pretty obvious that he was no match for Jensen Ackles and Jared had to consider that the whole night was a very foolish idea.

**

Jared sprawled across his bed, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. He had jerked off twice already and his cock was hard, demanding attention like he was 13 years old again. Jesus, at least when he was 13, he could jerk off and get some sleep. He turned and stared at the digital clock on his bedside table – it was 4:27 AM. Fuck!

He slid his hand under his boxers, closing his eyes as his hand wrapped around his cock, sliding gently up and down the length, teasing himself. His other hand moved to his neck, fingers rubbing over the scratches.

He arched into his own touch, his hand squeezing tight just below the cockhead in response. He bit the inside of his bottom lip, exhaling harshly out of his nose, as pleasure flooded his body. He pressed down harder on the scratches on his neck as his fist moved quickly just over the head, his palm wet from the pre-come. He was so close. His heels dug into the bed, back arching, and fingers pressing harder until he needed something more to get him over the edge. He let his nails trail down his neck in one hard glide and he bit back a whimper, thighs trembling, his balls tightening against his body, and spilling wetly into his hand.

Letting out a breathless groan, he trailed his nails down his neck again and pumped his fist harder, squeezing the last drops from his cock. He panted, arching his neck, thrusting his hips. He couldn’t get enough; he wanted more. He raked his nails down his neck again, whimpering. He was still so hard. He wet hand gave him the most delicious friction and he kept stroking and stroking his cock, palm moving over the sensitized head, trembling feverishly on his bed.

Fuck! Fuck!

“I can make you come so hard and so many times with just one bite.”

Fuck! He heard Jensen’s voice so clear in his mind. It was like he was whispering in his ear beside him.

“Fuck!” Jared cried out, thrusting helplessly into his tight fist, squeezing his cock so hard that he was feeling more pain than pleasure. He flung his head into his pillow and had to jerk his hand away from his neck, panting roughly as his body seized, coming again, hard and dry.

Damn. Jared sank back on his bed, breathing through his mouth. He was sweaty and wet with come and nearly paralyzed with shivers. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, too dazed to even think. He blinked slowly, recovering from the flood of endorphins and pleasure. He felt smug with himself and couldn’t help the curl of a smile forming on his lips. That was pretty fantastic.

He reached up and gently traced his neck, knowing that he’d probably have visible marks there in the morning. He shuddered as his nail caught one of the scratches and he had to convince himself that he was done for the night. He pulled off his shirt and wiped himself clean, tucking his finally spent cock back in his boxers. He tossed the shirt towards the bathroom door and curled up on his side.

Fuck, if that’s how it was just scratching his neck; a part of him was just a little scared about what it would be like to be bitten by Jensen.

***

Jensen curled his hands into a tight fist, closing his eyes. He calmed himself physically as he stood in the stairwell, fighting his instinct to go back into the living room and ripping Jared’s clothes off and holding him down, biting him and taking pleasure from Jared’s body. Four hundred years of control and he was losing it for the first time in centuries.

Suppressing his desire for Jared, the vampire Elder opened his eyes, the preternatural glow fading slightly. He shut his annoyance away with his desire and took the stairs down to the fourth floor offices. Even a vampire Elder as old as him was bound by the formality of another vampire Elder’s visit in his city.

He nodded to the guards standing in the hallway and entered his office. Jeffrey Dean Morgan stood, bowing his head slightly. “Good evening, Jeff. It’s good to see you again.”

“Father.”

Jensen smirked, closing the door behind him as he crossed the room towards Jeffrey. Jensen shivered, enjoying Jeffrey’s presence. Jensen was his Primogenitor – his vampire father. Jensen had turned him, who was once a witch hunter in Beverly, Massachusetts. Jeffrey was alluring, so passionate in his beliefs that he was saving the women accused of witchcraft. In his day, Jeffrey had ordered the prosecution of many women. But when his wife was accused of witchcraft, Jeffrey had a dramatic change of attitude. He was near suicidal, going into the woods to pray for forgiveness for what he did. Jensen offered him an unexpected penance – that Jeffrey would now be doomed as a vampire – forever immortal. And then Jensen had delighted in taking Jeffrey as a lover. Physically, Jeffrey looked at least 15 years older than Jensen, but he was a 300-year old vampire and a powerful vampire Elder of a large city. He looked at the handsome vampire, reaching out to clasp Jeffrey’s shoulder.

“My affection for you does have its limits, Jeff,” Jensen said, smiling warmly. He hugged the other vampire tightly, inhaling deeply. Jeffrey always smelled woodsy and Jensen could feel the vampire’s heat against him.

“Shall I do the formal greeting then?” Jeffrey said, his voice deep and husky. Jensen felt Jeffrey press his face against Jensen’s neck. “It’s been decades since you demanded it from me.”

Jensen laughed. “That’s because you were a stubborn bastard who wouldn’t follow the rules.” He released Jeffrey and motioned for him to sit down on the couch. “How is your city faring?”

“That’s why I’m here. I do apologize for arriving unannounced, but I needed to tell you about a situation from the East Coast.” Jeffrey said, softly. He rubbed his hands on his thighs, taking a breath. “A vampire has been killing humans in my city. There were six victims – all drained. The vampire council deliberated and pronounced execution for the vampire, but he slipped away and we lost him.”

“Where?”

“My people tracked him to Chicago. The vampire Elder said that there were two humans drained. We couldn’t find him in Chicago and we believe he’s come here, to San Francisco.”

Jensen frowned, staring at Jeffrey. “Who is he? Who is his Primogenitor?”

“We know him only as Sterling Brown and we haven’t discovered his Primogenitor.”

“Jeffrey, I cannot allow a vampire to come into my city and kill humans,” Jensen said, looking away and standing. He paced the small distance of the room and turned to look at Jeffrey. He needed to prevent any vampire attacks on humans. He needed to protect his city. He had fought too hard and too long to bring safety to his vampire community and to the humans who lived in his domain.

He walked to the door and opened it, looking at one of the security guards. “Find Christian. I need him here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jensen closed the door and turned back to Jeffrey. “Have you brought your people to my city to hunt this vampire?”

“Yes, I have 20 in the city. Sterling Brown likes to play in heavily populated places. He’s a tough son-of-a-bitch, Jensen, but we’ll find him.”

“Do it,” Jensen said, sharply. He knew he shouldn’t take his anger out on Jeffrey; but a vampire Elder was responsible for the city he claimed. It was his domain; and for a vampire Elder who wasn’t able to prevent the attacks, it weakened him in both the vampire and human communities. “He must be stopped.”

“Yes, Father.”

There was a knock and the door opened. Christian Kane was Jensen’s Consigliere personale – his personal adviser.

“You needed me,” Christian said, entering. “Good evening, Jeffrey.”

“Chris, how are you?” Jeffrey said, standing. He shook Christian’s hand.

“Chris, there’s a vampire named Sterling Brown who may be in our city. He’s killed at least 8 humans from New York to Chicago to here. I want him found and executed on sight.” Jensen ordered, not mincing words. He knew Christian would take care of all the details.

“Do you want me to work with the SFPD?”

Jensen considered it. Did he get the humans involved? Would it be better if they took care of it in house? And what if Sterling Brown killed humans in the city and Jensen hadn’t warned them? It would break the trust and peace between vampires and humans. It would bring them back to the Dark Days, when humans feared vampires and killed them.

“Yes. They need to know. Get me a meeting with the Mayor as well.” Jensen said, nodding. He knew it was the right decision. “We need this vampire off the streets as soon as possible. It’ll be a nightmare if we let him drain one human.”

Christian nodded. “I’ll do it now.”

Jensen watched as Christian left the office. He dropped his head, closing his eyes. So much was at stake. He felt it in his bones. He nearly jumped when he felt Jeffrey’s strong hand, pressed against his back. With a sigh, he fell into the comforting touch, needing his connection with Jeffrey. He thought of Jared, eyes closed, neck bared, wriggling beneath him. He remembered how the young human smelled, the taste of his skin, and his pulse beating against his tongue. So close, he thought, so close to having what he had wanted for so long. He had waited so long.

“Jensen?”

Jensen snapped out of his memories and turned to look at Jeffrey. “I’m okay. I can take care of it.”

“Let me comfort you.” Jeffrey whispered, moving closer and placing his arms around Jensen’s waist.

It was too soon; Jensen didn’t want to lose the taste of Jared. He shook his head, smiling at Jeffrey. “Thank you, but it’s not the right time.”

Jeffrey laid a kiss against Jensen’s neck. He breathed slowly and then pulled away, giving Jensen a mischievous smile. “You know what they say – nothing tastes better than Primogenitor’s blood.”

Jensen laughed, shaking his head. “Greedy bastard.” He laughed, pushing his sense of dread aside. “Tell me where you’re staying.”

“I need to go back to my city, Jensen. I’ve been away too long trying to find this vampire. My people will visit you in the morning to report in.”

“I’ll make sure that they’re welcomed,” he said, sighing. He pressed his hand over his eyes and rubbed his head. “Safe travels home, Jeffrey. It was good to see you.”

“I wish it was under better circumstances,” Jeffrey said, his eyes dark and tired. “Forgive me for putting this on you.”

Jensen nodded. “No forgiveness is needed. A vampire like Sterling Brown needs to be stopped permanently.”

“Thank you.”

Jensen hugged him again, pressing him close. He felt Jeffrey’s warmth, touched him gently. “Visit us again when this is over.”

“I will,” he said, smiling slightly. Jensen saw the tenseness in Jeffrey’s shoulder relax a little; but he knew that the other vampire Elder felt powerless. “I’ll let you know what we can find.”

“Yes, keep me in the loop.”

Jensen showed Jeffrey to the door and watched the other vampire leave. He sat back against the arm of the sectional and pressed his fingers against his eyes. Fuck. Fuck! This was the last thing that he needed. Ten million humans living in his domain; 60,000 vampires in his community; one vampire bent on destroying the hard earned peace. Jensen wanted to find this bastard on his own; to go back to his early days when he was a young Lancastrian soldier in the War of the Roses. With nothing but his horse and his sword, he and his men had struck fear in the hearts of England. He would take up his sword again and find this vampire; but as vampire Elder, he was more politician now than soldier. He had set up a justice system for vampires, ordered executions for those who broke the covenant between vampires and humans.

He did not want to go through this again. There was so much more to lose than human lives.

He took a breath, putting away his fears. He felt his fangs extend in his mouth and he tore his bottom lip, sucking on his blood. The wounds healed quickly. He caressed his face and stared at his palms. Fuck. He didn’t believe in heaven or hell; there was no religion for vampires, no God to pray to. He wished he could find a moment of respite from his duties to his city.

For just a moment, he thought he could’ve found it in Jared.

***

“That is beyond moronic!”

“Tax benefits for blood donations is not moronic, Krissy.”

“If you call me Krissy one more time, I swear I’ll stake you and leave you to burn in the sun.”

“Staking a vampire in the heart doesn’t kill us and we don’t burn in the sun.”

“Maybe I just want to annoy you.”

“Maybe I should bite you!”

“Both of you, go back to your corners.”

Jared stepped into his office suite and grinned at the three people standing in the outer lobby. “Why can’t I just come to work and start with good morning? Good morning, Mike. Good morning, Jared. Good morning, Kristen. Good morning, Jared. Can we try it? It couldn’t hurt.”

“Good morning, Jared.” Michael and Kristen intoned, dryly.

“Good morning, Mike. Good morning, Kristen.” Jared chuckled, looking at Tom. “All right, what’s on the docket for today?”

Michael nearly pushed Kristen out of the way, keeping pace with Jared. Tom caught her, righting her carefully.

“Michael!” Kristen yelled, indignantly. “You jerk!”

“Dude, you just –“ Jared gave up.

“Jay! We need to talk about tax credits for humans who donate blood,” Michael said, following him into Jared’s office. “I think we can get this passed with a minimum of bloodshed, pardon the pun, and we think –“

“YOU think! Don’t give Jared the idea that this tax credit idea has anything to do with Tom or me.” Kristen Bell called, walking into the room behind Michael. “He’s been talking about this all morning!”

“Why do you refuse to consider that giving blood donors – blood donors to vampires, specifically – shouldn’t receive some type of compensation?”

“They don’t need compensation! Voluntary donations at vampire blood banks have always been the cornerstone of vampire civil rights. Humans have the choice to give blood. Vampires already recruit the same way as the Red Cross.” Kristen said, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, Mike, this is a dead issue.”

Jared couldn’t hide his smile, looking from Michael to Kristen. He sat down behind his desk, booting up his laptop and desktop, and looked up at Tom. “I need a voice of reason this morning, Tommy.”

Tom leaned against Jared’s desk and shook his head. “They won’t listen to me.”

“Why is this a dead issue?” Michael stopped, leaning forward towards Jared. He inhaled deeply and smirked. “Someone was a naughty boy.”

“What?” Jared said, then laughed. “Get out of here. I don’t believe that stuff about vampires smelling – dude! That’s so not right!”

Tom leaned closer and scented Jared. He smiled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you spent a very pleasant evening with the vampire Elder.”

“With Jensen Ackles?” Kristen said, sitting up in interest. Jared traced the scratches on his neck. “Ohmygod, did he bite you? Is that a bite mark?”

“No! No. No way am I sharing –“

Michael laughed. “It was pleasant, but not pleasant.”

“It’s kind of disturbing when you smell me like that. I feel all violated and stuff.” Jared said, laughing softly. He felt his face heat up. “Table it.” He leaned in his chair. “PR agenda, Ms Bell.”

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but Kristen slapped him behind the head, smirking. “This is your press schedule.” She handed Jared a blue folder. “Your ‘Sunshine Law’ press conference is at 11 o’clock. That’s your speech. I need you to approve the final draft so I can send it to the teleprompter. It’s nine minutes and then you have six minutes for a brief Q&A with the journalists. And Jared, don’t go off script. I know you like to improv, but not today.”

“Brutal,” Jared said, laughing.

“It’s for your own good. You have lunch with the Mayor at Yank Sang –“

Jared made a face. “Dim sum again? Doesn’t the Mayor know that San Francisco boasts 260 culinary restaurants that serve things other than dim sum?”

“Shut up. You love dim sum – or you do when you’re with the Mayor,” Kristen said, scoldingly. She handed him a red folder. “Then you have a 2 o’clock at Audoban Elementary School. You’re giving a very brief speech about civil rights and the vampire rights movement. Keep it simple, you’re talking to a bunch of 9-year olds. This is your speech. It’s about two minutes and you can do a simple Q&A session with the kids.” She looked up at Jared. “Tom’s going with you.”

“Come on! I don’t need a chaperone anymore.”

Michael snorted and Jared tossed a paperclip at him.

“I could always send you with Mike.”

Jared grinned, shaking his head. He looked at his staff and felt warm with fondness for them, even though the three of them were exasperating at times. He logged into his desktop to check his e-mail. “I’m listening, what else?”

“That’s all the press you have today.” Kristen said, closing her portfolio and leaning back in her chair.

“Council business?”

Michael handed Jared a green folder. “These are the legislative council actions that need your attention. The council is in session tomorrow to vote on three of the issues, so read up tonight. I seriously want you to consider the tax benefits for blood donations.” Jared couldn’t stifle his snort. “Don’t snort at it! I did a ton of research. Did you know that Detroit has a tax credit for humans who donate blood specifically for vampires?”

Jared looked at Tom. “Really?”

“They’re actually an organization – I think they’re considered a LLC. All of their employees donate blood and they’ve been able to receive a tax break.” Tom verified, standing next to Kristen.

“So it’s possible –“

“Look at the research,” Michael said, all joking aside. “Humans could benefit from it at a city-wide action.”

“All right, Mikey, I’ll read it over.” Jared said, nodding. “And last but not least, Mr Chief-of-Staff?”

“A situation came up overnight in the vampire community. There’s a chance that a killer is in the city. As of now, we haven’t had any reports of any victims or missing persons; and we’re not 100 percent certain that the killer is in San Francisco, but the city needs to know. There’s a briefing after you return from the elementary school. I’ll brief you more on it before your lunch with the Mayor today.”

Jared leaned forward in his chair. “Is the killer a vampire?”

“Yes. From New York City.”

“San Francisco has been a safe city for decades, for humans and for vampires,” Jared said, sighing. “What can we do to help the vampire community?”

“The vampire council is meeting with Jensen this morning. The liaison is working with the SFPD and getting the word out as fast as possible. If we’re lucky, the vampires will catch the killer without any loss of human life,” Tom said, softly.

Jared wondered if that was the reason why Jensen had to cut their evening short. He chewed on his lips and rubbed his neck for a moment, letting the tingling comfort him. “Okay, keep us posted.”

“Of course.”

“All right, everybody out. Go work to make the city a better place.” Jared said, shooing them out with a smile. “Kristen, stay for a minute.”

Michael and Tom left, closing the door behind them. Kristen watched Jared, her eyes curious.

“Do you know a Jeffrey Morgan?”

“No, never heard the name before.”

“Do some discreet checking for me, okay? Find whatever you can.”

“Sure,” she said, opening her portfolio and writing quick notes. “Anything specific you want me to find?”

“No, just background information for now.” Jared said, sighing. He felt guilty, but pushed it down. “Tom and Mikey don’t need to know, all right? This is just for me.”

Kristin nodded, frowning slightly. “Okay. We’ll keep it off the radar.” She paused for a long moment. “You want to tell me why you’re asking me to go behind the backs of your Chief-of-Staff and your Legislative Counsel?”

“It’s personal.” Jared said, hoping that she would get it. “Please?”

“I’ll get back to you on whatever I find,” she said, standing. “Is everything okay? Were the boys right – you met Jensen Ackles last night?”

Jared shrugged and then nodded. “Yeah.” What could he say? Yes, I met the vampire Elder of the city, who by the way is fucking gorgeous, and he held me down and licked my neck and I almost came in my pants before we were interrupted. Then I went home and jerked off three times – the third time I came so hard I got just a little scared. Oh yeah, that would fly. “He’s pretty interesting.”

“Understatement.” Kristen smiled at him and turned for the door. “I’ll get you something before COB tonight.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Jared sighed, sitting in the quiet of his office, leaning as far back as he could in his chair. He leaned his head back and reached up to touch the scratches. He could feel them, hot under his fingertips. He shivered and he forced himself to stop. The last thing he needed was to be caught by Mike or Tom or, God forbid, Kristen with a hard on in his office.

**

Jared eyed the candy machine in the break room, trying to think of what fit his mood. The Twizzlers were always a safe choice. He eyed the bag of Smarties. Anything chocolate covered usually worked. He always needed a candy fix after a press conference. Being in the public eye didn’t make him nervous – he felt it was kind of like an acting gig and he brought his A-game. Very method, he thought, laughing softly to himself.

But what candy did he really want? Anything with sugar would do it. His metabolism and energy levels were so high anyway that his daily sugar intake never made a big impact.

Twizzlers, he decided. He dropped in the appropriate coins and pressed the button. He watched as the small packet fell to the bottom of the machine and he bent down to pull them out. One of the first things that he did when he was first elected to the council was to talk to the vendors and requested a better candy selection to be put in the machines. He didn’t feel that it was quite an abuse of power because other people in the building could enjoy the candy, too.

He broke off a strand and stuck one end into his mouth, turning – and jumped, an involuntary sound moving in his throat. He refused to acknowledge it as a squeal.

“Jesus, Tom!”

Tom chuckled. “Honestly, you leave yourself wide open.”

“For a 96-year old vampire, you really are just 13-years old, aren’t you?” Jared complained, chewing on his licorice and glaring at Tom.

“Had to make a candy run, huh? I didn’t think the Q&A went that badly.”

“No, I expected it to go okay,” Jared said, smiling. “I just needed some candy. What’s up?”

“You know, Jay, I just wanted to know why Kristen is doing a background check on Jeffrey Morgan.”

“She tell you?” Jared said, ducking his head and looking at Tom from the corner of his eye.

“No,” Tom said, shaking his head. “I’m your COS, man. I know what goes on in your office. If you wanted to know about Morgan, you could’ve just come to me or Mike.”

“You know Jeffrey Morgan?” Jared said, chewing on his second piece of Twizzler. “How?”

“He’s a vampire Elder from New York City.”

Jared nodded. “And he’s in town because of the killer.” He sighed, chewing and swallowing quickly. “He came to see Jensen last night at the club when I was there.”

“Yeah, Jensen said.”

“You know?” Jared often believed that the vampire community was one big incestuous gossip circle. “What –“

“You know a lot about vampire culture and you fought for more vampire rights,” Tom said, smiling warmly. “But there are still some things that humans don’t know. It’s not that we don’t want to be open, but some things are sacrosanct, especially the relationship between two vampire Elders. When a vampire Elder visits another city, it’s only polite to perform the formal greeting as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” Jared said, softly. A part of him did feel disconcerted that Jensen could leave in the middle of – “Did Jensen tell you to tell me this?”

Tom’s green eyes glowed slightly. “He is my vampire Elder. And you were in a daze or something so he wanted to make sure you knew he hadn’t just taken off to be with someone else.”

“Shut up!” Jared said, punching Tom in the arm. “Well, at least Jensen told you and not Mikey. I wouldn’t be able to live it down if Mike had to have this chat with me.”

“Actually, he did tell Mike,” Tom said, laughing. “Mike’s 124-years old, he’s a little higher up than me in the vampire food chain. So to speak. I had to intercept him.”

Jared rolled his eyes. He thought the old vampire adage was true that age didn’t equal maturity.

“And he’s so going to take it out on my ass tonight,” Tom said, winking.

Jared made a face. “Really, you didn’t have to go there.”

**

Jared finished his packet of Twizzlers by the time he reached his office, wishing he had bought a second one. His executive assistant, Adam, caught him on the way into his office suite.

“Sandy’s waiting for you in your office,” Adam said, nodding his head to the door. “And Jensen Ackles called. I put him through to your voicemail.”

Jared grinned, slightly. “Thanks.”

He walked into his office, closing the door behind him. Sandy McCoy sat on the window ledge, overlooking the city. She smiled, moving to give him a hug. He leaned down to give her a kiss. “It’s good to see you.”

“You’re looking well,” she said, staring up at him. Jared made sure to tuck his chin so she wouldn’t be able to see the scratches on his neck.

“So what can I do for the city’s foremost entertainment journalist?”

“I just wanted to verify something before I reveal it on the 5 o’clock celebrity news,” she said, sitting down prettily.

Jared watched as she pulled her digital recorder from her bag. He took a moment to just look at her. She was beautiful, but she looked happier. They had dated for three years before they split, amicably, five years ago. Each had wanted different things in their relationship and they wanted to part as friends. He knew she dated frequently, but wasn’t in a long-term relationship. Even though their time had past, he felt kind of glad that she hadn’t jumped into something serious.

“Ready?”

Jared nodded, chuckling. “Sure, okay. I still don’t know what would be all that interesting in the life of a city council member.”

“Last night, you were seen at Sanctuary, necking with Jensen Ackles in public, before disappearing with him to his private residences. Care to comment?”

“No comment.” Jared said, slowly. Shit! Shit! How the hell did she find out? Then again, Sandy had her own network of spies in the city. Anyone could’ve seen him in the club and told her – she was their entertainment journalist.

“Come on, Jared. There were eyewitnesses. Are you denying that you were at Sanctuary and that you didn’t neck with—“

“Turn it off.”

“I am well in my rights to ask you. You are a public figure.”

“I said turn it off, Sandy!”

“People are interested in your personal life.”

Jared glared at her, biting back his temper. “You mean you’re interested in my personal life.”

Sandy pressed her lips together and she stared at him, meeting his gaze. There was one thing about her that Jared always respected – her ability to meet him head on – but it wasn’t winning her any points right now.

“Turn it off, Sandy,” he said, gently.

With a little moue, she reached for the digital recorder and pressed a button, then set it back on the desk. Jared leaned forward in his chair to look at the recorder to make sure it was off.

“So, are you saying no to the interview then?”

“I don’t want to discuss this with the city’s entertainment journalist, but I’ll talk to my friend.”

Sandy huffed, looking away. Jared waited for her to make the decision and he prayed to God that she wouldn’t choose the story over their friendship. When she looked back at him, she was composed, but he knew she was furious.

“I can’t believe you’d let that vampire bite you. You’re a bite-lover—“

“Don’t say that. I hate that term.”

“Let’s face it; every human who takes a vampire lover does it because they want the sexual benefits of a vampire’s bite.”

Jared stared at her for a long moment, utterly speechless and blank. He never figured her for a bigot. He always believed that she was open-minded and tolerant – how the hell did she work in the entertainment industry if she was so closed minded? Christ. This was going downhill fast. Jared didn’t know if he could salvage it, but he had to try.

“Sandy,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Look, why are you here? Are you here because you’re concerned I’m getting involved with a man, or are you concerned I’m getting involved with a vampire?”

Sandy swiped the recorder off his desk and threw it into her bag. She glared at him and prepared to get up. “Neither. I just wish you would’ve told me. I had to hear it from everyone else. How do you think that made me feel? All of our friends – my friends – I always told you when I was seeing someone.”

“I’m not seeing Jensen,” he said, shaking his head. Not yet. But he wasn’t about to say that to her now.

“Damn it, Jared, that’s not the point!”

“Then what is the point because the jealous ex-girlfriend routine is getting old!”

“You asshole.” She stood and leaned on the desk, facing him. “I just wanted a little warning, that’s all. I just wanted a little consideration. I never let you look the fool to our friends.”

Shit. Jared blinked, looking at her. She was right.

“God, Sandy, I’m sorry.” He stood up and walked around the desk to her, pulling her into his arms. “I didn’t think it would matter. I just met him last night, okay, and yeah, things got a little heated, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

Lies, all lies.

Sandy looked into his eyes. “So you’re gay now?”

“I don’t know. Yeah. Bi probably. You know I don’t like labels.” Jared shrugged, helplessly. He hadn’t thought too deeply about it. He knew that he was deeply attracted to Jensen – he wasn’t completely sure if it was because Jensen was a beautiful man or if it was because he was a beautiful vampire. Maybe a bit of both.

She nodded, accepting it. “So it was true?”

“Am I still talking to my friend or the entertainment journalist?”

“I’ll always be your friend first, Jay.”

Jared took a deep breath. He owed her the truth. “Nothing happened last night. But I am interested in him. There’s something about him that…I feel safe with him. I want to get to know him better.”

Sandy rolled her eyes and pulled away from him, patting her hair and pulling her bag over her shoulder.

“I am sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this,” Jared offered, smiling an apology.

“Okay.”

“Let’s have dinner soon. Next week?”

“Sure, call me.” She said, taking a deep breath.

Jared walked her to the door, giving her a hug and kissing the top of her head. She always thought it was goofy, but he liked doing it. He opened the door for her and smiled. “Thanks for coming by.”

“I’ll see you soon,” she said, giving him a small smile.

Jared watched her walk out of his outer suite, into the hallway. He sighed, closing the door and locking it. God save him. Really. He didn’t know if he handled that well at all; and he never underestimated her. Some people made fun of her behind her back, calling her a glorified tabloid reporter, but Sandy could be a vindictive bitch when she wanted to be. He had to play this carefully with her.

The worst thing was that he knew she was still in love with him; and while he loved her, too, he didn’t want to go back into a relationship with her. It wasn’t because they weren’t compatible or anything like that. When he worked in the District Attorney’s office as an ADA, he pulled long hours, sometimes working 72-hours straight with time to just shower and eat. He was just building the foundation to his political career and trying to create enough political capital to position him where he could make the biggest impact on the vampire rights movement. Sandy often called herself the mistress as Jared was obviously married to his work. She had wanted the white picket fence and the American family dream in the suburbs; Jared wanted to help 60,000 vampires in San Francisco have the same civil rights as humans. She gave him an ultimatum and he couldn’t accept it.

Jared walked to his desk and sat down heavily, wondering if his personal life would be the lead entertainment story on the 5 o’clock news. God, he hoped not. He didn’t want to cut her out of his life. He knew Kristen would know and she’d end up calling him later in the evening about it to talk about spin.

For now, that’s how he’d leave it. Let it ride.

He picked up his telephone and pressed his pin number to access his voicemail. He closed his eyes and leaned into the chair, his fingers finding their way to his neck.

“Jared, this is Jensen Ackles. I would like to invite you to dinner tonight and explain what happened. Come by the club around 8 o’clock. If you go to the back of the building, Victor will meet you. Give me a call if you can’t make it; otherwise, I’ll assume you’ll be here. My number is 415-555-0301. Thanks. See you tonight.”

Jared smiled, putting the phone in the cradle. He remembered the feel of Jensen’s hand grabbing his hair and pulling his head back. He remembered how Jensen held his wrists together in one hand, keeping him pinned on the couch. He hadn’t considered how strong the vampire Elder would be – how strangely familiar it was to have the vampire – a man – pressing over him. Jared had experimented at Stanford, but not to the extent that he would’ve with Jensen last night.

Last night. Was it just last night that he was there? Jared couldn’t believe that he would’ve done anything Jensen wanted to do to him. He would’ve accepted it and he longed for it now. Would Jensen seduce him tonight? He liked challenging the vampire; wanted to see what would push Jensen to losing control. He didn’t find it strange that he was so willing to be dominated. In all of his previous relationships, he was in control. But with Jensen…there was nothing Jared wanted to do but give it all to Jensen.

The beep from his computer pulled him from his thoughts. His Outlook calendar reminder popped up. He was due at Yank Sang to meet the Mayor in 20 minutes – just enough time to get there. He stood, straightening his tie and smoothing back his hair. He tucked his Blackberry into his jacket pocket and powered down his desktop and laptop.

He’d have to let Kristen know about Sandy’s visit before he left; in case she could do damage control if Sandy went ahead and put his story as the lead in. As he walked to his door, he heard the doorknob jiggle. Someone from the other side was trying to get in.

“Why is his door locked?” Jared knew that was Mike. He came closer to the door to listen for a moment.

“Maybe he’s doing something in there.” Kristen. Jared suppressed his giggles.

“Hey Adam, is Jared meeting with someone right now?” Mike again.

Jared couldn’t hear what Adam said, but he knew he said Sandy’s name.

“Shit, what did she want?” Mike again. Jared frowned, wondering if Mike disliked her.

“Just knock on the door, he’s going to be late for his lunch appointment.” Tom’s voice of reason. Jared remembered when he first met Tom, 10 years ago, and how he thought Tom was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud. And then Tom met Mike and…well, Jared thought that Mike’s frequent juvenile antics balanced Tom’s seriousness.

Jared reached for the doorknob and twisted the knob, opening the door quickly. He was gratified to see Tom, Mike, and Kristen jump. Jared laughed so hard, looking at the three of them. “That’s right, years of sneaking up on me – payback starts today!”

Mike recovered first, blinking at him. He smirked; putting his head on Tom’s chest and fluttering his eyelashes like a Southern belle. “Hold me, darling. Our little boy is learning.”

Kristen reached up and smacked the back of Mike’s head. “You totally screamed like a girl.”

***

Jared parked his Hybrid SUV a couple blocks from The Sanctuary. He snagged his Blackberry and tucked it into his pocket. He was on time – he still had 15 minutes. He had gone home, jerked off in the shower, and dressed casually in his favorite pale pink oxford button down and khaki pants. He didn’t think Jensen meant anything formal. It was just dinner between two interested parties – who was he kidding? Jared hoped that as soon as he walked into Jensen’s place that the vampire would slam him against the wall, bite him deep, and fuck him until he came and passed out.

Damn. He was getting hard again. It wouldn’t do to have the city’s councilman walking around with tented pants. Though, it would probably be all right on Castro Street, laughing softly.

Jared turned the corner, cutting behind an alleyway, a block away from the club. He enjoyed walking in the city. Despite the crazy streets built on hills that reached 90 degree angles, he loved to walk. It didn’t hurt that he was tall and he could take a long stride and not break a sweat.

He could see the line of people stretching down the street. He grinned. Just a block away from seeing Jensen and a night of debauchery and neck biting and –

Shit!

Jared slammed against the brick wall. He looked around and didn’t see what had hit him. He hissed, grabbing his shoulder where it had jarred. He carefully stood up, looking around the empty alley. His sense of self-preservation was a lot stronger than his curiosity, so Jared started to haul ass down the rest of the alley. He knew that when he made it to the end, he’d be with other people and less of a target.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew he shouldn’t have turned to look behind him, but he took a quick look. Nothing. He continued moving down the alley and didn’t see the shadow slam into him, knocking him to the ground.

It was a man. He crouched behind Jared, arm wrapped around his throat. The man laughed throatily against Jared’s ear.

“Hmmm…you’re a delicious little morsel, aren’t you?” He said, laughing thickly. “My mama would’ve called you a tall drink of water.”

“My wallet’s in my back pocket. You can have it and just go.” Jared said, trying to keep calm.

The man laughed. “I don’t want your money. I just want one thing.”

What? What on earth do you want? But before Jared could open his mouth, he gasped, his body jerking from the intense pain at the side of his neck.

Vampire? He was – this was the vampire from New York. Oh God…Jared couldn’t move, he couldn’t really think. He could smell the metallic smell of his own blood. The sound of the vampire slurping and sucking on his neck made his stomach turn. He dry heaved against the vampire, his legs twitching uselessly on the ground.

“No…stop…”

Jared’s head fell forward against the vampire’s arm. He wanted to close his eyes, sleep. No, he couldn’t…he couldn’t because…Jensen.

“Jen…sen…”

The vampire pulled his fangs from Jared’s neck with a loud squelch. Jared let out a groan, trying to make one last attempt to pull away. Funnily, all he could think of was that he was getting his night of debauchery and neck biting – he just thought it would’ve been with Jensen.

“Calling the name of the city’s vampire Elder. You must be one of his special pets,” the vampire hissed, laughing. “Then I’ll leave him a small gift. You may live…or not. But if you do, when you see Jensen Ackles, tell him I said ‘fuck you.’”

The vampire dropped Jared on the ground. Jared turned his head to look at the vampire. He was a handsome man with dark skin and short hair. Jared watched as the vampire wiped his mouth, licking his fingers. He let out a small chuckle, then walked slowly down the rest of the alley towards the line of people.

Jared raised his hand…it wasn’t like he could stop the vampire. He sank back on the ground, turning on his back to stare at the sky. He used the last of his energy to reach for the Blackberry in his pocket. A part of him was grateful that he had spent years on his Blackberry; he didn’t even have to see the keypad buttons. With the last of his strength, he dialed the only number he could remember.

“911, what is your emergency?”

Jared swallowed, wincing in pain. He could feel the wounds on his neck gaping and leaking blood. His throat was flaring in pain.

“911, what is your emergency? Hello? If you are unable to communicate, please stay on the line. I am doing a reverse telephone trace now. You’ll be all right. Just stay with me. Don’t hang up the call…”

Jared blinked once, twice…he was cold all of a sudden…and his mouth was so dry…

***

“911, what is your emergency? Hello? If you are unable to communicate, please stay on the line. I am doing a reverse telephone trace now. You’ll be all right. Just stay with me. Don’t hang up the call.” The emergency operator checked his directory database for the cell phone’s number.

Shit. Jared Padalecki. That was Councilman Jared Padalecki’s number. He pulled up his GPS screen and activated the emergency mobile flag. In just a few seconds, he could see the red light blinking on the screen. Vampire Elder Jensen Ackles territory.

“If you can hear me, I’ll stay on the line with you.”

He pressed the number to the local dispatch. “Victim is Caucasian, male, late 20s, name is Jared Padalecki. Unresponsive. The cell phone line is still open. Activated GPS and forwarding you his location. Yes. Thank you.”

“Mr Padalecki, the ambulance is on its way. Just stay with me, sir.”

He pulled out his own cell phone and scrolled through his phone book until he came up with the right name. Christian. He sent a quick text: Padalecki down. GPS location: 35.3408, -111.6825. He pressed send and monitored the dispatch traffic.

**

Jensen contemplated the two wine bottles in his hands – would Jared like the young Merlot or would he like the aged California white? He shrugged to himself, putting both in the freezer for a quick chill. He had wanted to make simple and hearty fare for Jared; just enough to whet his appetite, but not so that Jared would feel stuffed. He smiled, remembering stories from Tom and Mike about how Jared could eat his weight in candy and still have steak for lunch.

He looked up when he sensed Christian walking into his residence. “I’m in here.”

“I just received coordinates from Jared’s GPS chip in his Blackberry. He just made a call to 911. He’s a block from here. I have my people on the street, looking for him right now.” Christian said, grabbing Jensen before he could run out into the streets looking for Jared.

Jensen growled, narrowing his eyes. “Why are you stopping me!”

“Because I need you to be clear-headed.”

“You dare, Christian!” He hissed at the younger vampire. Christian met his eyes.

“Calm, Jensen, and then I will join you in the search,” Christian said, softly. He placed his palm over Jensen’s chest, soothing him. “He will be found and he will be all right.”

Jensen nodded, the glow leaving his eyes slightly. “Where?”

“I’ll look for him from 122nd to Mayfair Avenue; you can take 123rd to Mayfair. I have other vampires going north.”

Jensen appreciated that Christian was his Consigliere personale. “Let’s go. Call me if you find him first!”

**

Jensen moved quickly outside, closing his eyes and scenting the air. He breathed in deeply, separating the usual scents of humans and life, trying to pinpoint one that one scent that was uniquely Jared. He caught something in the air – something very faint, like the remembered taste of a favorite candy from childhood. He started down the street, ignoring the humans in his way, until he ended up at the entrance to an alley way. He pushed out his senses, overwhelmed at first of all the sounds and sights and tastes and touches that threatened to drown him, drown him in humanity.

And there, he cocked his head, arching his eyebrow. He felt something just on the outer fringes of his senses, something very familiar.

Jared had walked into this alley.

He turned and followed the scent, moving along the wall. His eyes could see in the dark, as clear as day, and he switched to his night senses – searching and searching. He knew Jared was close…but there was another familiar scent mixed with Jared. One of his bloodline.

Jensen roared when he saw Jared sprawled on the dirty ground, blood leaking on the asphalt. He crouched low, scenting the smell of one of his children – oh yes, he knew this scent – and he picked up Jared in his arms, moving quickly back to the club. He ignored the ambulance sirens coming towards him.

Jared was still alive! His heart fluttered, but it still moved.

Jensen placed him gently on the bed, looking at the pale skin. He was so cold, so nearly drained, but not dead. Jensen bit his wrist and he forced Jared’s lips open, forcing the blood into Jared’s mouth. He made a face, but swallowed slightly. He gagged but Jensen squeezed his jaw until Jared’s mouth opened again, putting his wrist against Jared’s lips.

“…wha…what…ssss…stop…”

“Come on, Jared, live for me.” Jensen said, leaning over him and kissing him, trying to push life down Jared’s throat.

Jensen knew he couldn’t force more. Jared was still weak, weakened from the blood loss. Jensen couldn’t drain him now. He’d have to wait a little while to give Jared more of his healing blood. He pulled out his cell phone and called Christian. “I have Jared. He’s been drained. It’s Gordon Walker. Find him, he’s close. I scented him around the club. Bring him to me alive, Christian. I will deal with him myself.”

He rubbed his hand over his face, looking at Jared. So many years, he had waited for Jared to grow up into a man; so many times he had wanted to take the human. Now, he was in his bed, no choice in the matter, and Jensen wasn’t going to lose him. Not now, not ever. After this, Jared would be completely his – nothing short of cutting off Jared’s head would ever hurt him again.

**

Jensen stormed out of the bedroom and to the living room where Tom and Michael stood with Christian. He glared at the two vampires. “You were supposed to keep him safe!”

Jensen crossed the room towards them and punched Tom across the mouth, drawing blood. “I commanded you to protect him!”

Tom fell to his knee and looked up at the vampire Elder. “I did not foresee this, Jensen.”

“He can’t be with the kid 24-7!” Michael said, pushing Jensen away when the vampire Elder stepped closer to Tom, raising his hand.

“Jensen!” Christian grabbed Jensen and pulled him from the both of them. “Think this through!”

Jensen only felt the red haze of blood death; he knew that there was a part of him that was reasonably certain that he couldn’t blame this on Tom. He pulled away from Christian and started pacing.

“And we’ve found him,” Christian said, watching Jensen. “We have Gordon in the sub-basement.”

Jensen pointed at Tom and Michael. “Be here when I return.”

They both bowed their heads as Jensen followed Christian down the private stairs to the sub-basement levels. He pushed past Christian and opened the door to the sub-basement. A dozen vampires stood in the room, but Jensen only saw the one kneeling in the center, chained down to the cement floor at the neck, wrists, and ankles. He offered Jensen a wide, bloody grin.

“Hello, Father.”

Jensen crouched in front of his vampire son. “What have you done, Gordon?”

“What have I done? What have I done! I’ve done what you created me to do, you fucking bastard!” Gordon shouted, laughing. “You, who art the creator, do you now find your creation to be distasteful?”

Jensen looked into his dark eyes, wondering how he had not seen the insanity lurking beneath. “How many have you killed in my city?”

“Killed? I haven’t killed anyone, Father.” Gordon said, strangely coy. “I’ve only had one little snack so far.”

Jared. He “snacked” on Jared.

Jensen punched him in the face; then punched him again. “Have you forgotten everything? Where is your control?”

“Where’s yours?” Gordon shot back, licking his blood and laughing up at Jensen. “Hmmm…daddy’s going to punish me now, is that it?” He leaned closer to Jensen, as far as the chains allowed, and he grinned widely. “I got a taste of your boy, Jensen. Out in the alley. I assume you got him all tucked away in your bed now, don’t you?” Gordon laughed again. “Poor stupid fuck, he really doesn’t know what he’s getting into with you, right? He’ll learn…we all learned, didn’t we, daddy? Let me tell you a secret, just between the three of us, okay? Your pet called out for you while I had my fangs fucking into his neck. He called out for the big, bad vampire daddy to come and rescue him.”

Jensen met his eyes and just stared at him. Hopeless, then; no salvation. He stood and turned to look at Christian, holding out his hand. Christian handed him the steel nosed pliers.

“I’m a reflection of the monster that you are, Jensen!” Gordon screamed, trying to scramble away, but trapped by the chains. He knew what the pliers were for.

Jensen just watched for a long moment, then raised his wrist to bite into his skin. He looked at the two nearest vampires who moved to hold Gordon still. Jensen let his blood drop on Gordon’s lips. He knew that the vampire wouldn’t be able to resist.

“Ahhhhh, daddy’s blood, there’s none as sweet,” Gordon said, laughing. His fangs extended and the vampires grabbed his head, keeping him still as Jensen moved close, holding his jaw open, and used the pliers to pull out the fang, dropping the bloody canine on the cement floor. Gordon gurgled and screamed in pain. Jensen reached in and pulled out the other, dropping it on the floor as well.

He stepped back and stared at Gordon, wishing that he had it in his heart to offer him a quicker death.

“Leave him chained to the ground until he starves to death, then burn his body and spread his ashes on water,” Jensen said, staring at Gordon. “You can all share in his blood tonight, but don’t drain him.”

“No,” Gordon slurred, falling on his side. “That’s insane! You can’t do this! Jensen! Father!”

Jensen raised an eyebrow. “Don’t expect mercy from a monster, Gordon.”

He turned and started walking to the door, ignoring Gordon’s screams, as the vampires in the room crowded around Gordon to get their taste. He knew Christian would follow him.

**

Jensen slammed the door as he entered his residence, not giving Tom and Michael a second glance. He moved into his bedroom and looked at Jared, still pale and unconscious. He pulled Jared into his arms and felt his fangs extend. He leaned into Jared’s neck, licking it first, and gently pierced his throat. He only took a few mouthfuls, just enough to slow Jared’s heart. He withdrew his fangs and bit into his wrist, pressing the free flowing blood against Jared’s mouth.

“Drink, Jared, you need to drink,” Jensen said, stroking Jared’s throat with his hand, trying to get the human to swallow more of his blood.

“Jensen, he’s still weak,” Tom said, entering the bedroom.

“…no…”

Jensen held him close. “Jared.”

“…no…no…”  
“He’s too weak, Jensen! You have to stop.” Tom shouted. Jensen turned and glared at the other vampire, hissing a warning. “I know he wouldn’t want this, Jensen.”  
“…Jen…”  
“I’m right here, Jared.” He said, watching as Jared turned towards the sound of his voice. “I’m sorry, Jared, I’m so sorry.”  
Jensen pulled him closer and bit him again, deeper this time. Jared moaned, tried to move away and made a noise. Jensen sucked in the taste of him, suppressing his moan of pleasure. He wanted to do the blood turning quickly; didn’t want Jared to suffer for too long. He wasn’t even sure if it would work on Jared.  
“Jared, open your mouth. Please, just a little more,” Jensen murmured against Jared’s ear.  
He bit into his wrist again and held it against Jared’s mouth. Jensen was a little gratified that Jared swallowed on his own before he gagged and coughed.  
“Don’t fight it, Jared,” Jensen insisted. “It’s almost over.”  
He felt Jared swallow a couple times more before moving his mouth away. Jensen watched him carefully, settling him back down on the bed. He watched Jared’s tongue lick his lips, moaning slightly.  
“Sleep. Rest.” He whispered in Jared’s ear.  
**

Jensen stood against the wall, staring at Jared on the bed. He was breathing slowly, but there was strength there. He knew that Jared would turn…and what a magnificent vampire his child will be, Jensen mused, torn between being pleased and being ashamed at his lack of control. He hadn’t blood turned a human without consent in over three hundred years. Jeffrey was one of the first he began to offer the choice; but before Jeffrey, Jensen had forcibly blood turned at least 30 humans into his vampire family.

A folly of youth, Jensen believed, thinking about his many children. His bloodline as Primogenitor was extensive – blood turning men and women, always the strongest or the most lovely; it was his pride and vanity that made him desire those he believed were in their bloom of life.

Immortality was a long, long stretch of time; forever; enduring; permanent. And as a young vampire, Jensen was not always so discriminate in his choices. However, he had taken care of those of his children that he couldn’t control. Children like Gordon…he felt that he failed them in some way, but he didn’t blame himself totally. He had adapted over the centuries…it was the only way to exist, to change with the times. Most of his children understood that and did change. His other children, he arranged for a quick execution.

“Is this the best idea, Jensen?”

He turned to look at Christian, he so lost in his thoughts; he hadn’t heard the other vampire enter his bedroom.

“The last child you created is down in the sub-basement, fangless and starving; and yet you have another human that you’re making immortal -- without his clear consent. Is this right?”

Jensen looked at Jared. “It’s not right or wrong, Chris. This is about Jared being mine.”

“I know you saved his life, ten years ago; but you don’t have a claim on him,” Christian said, softly. “This is an obsession—“

“This is love, Chris. I waited for him for so long.”

“Ten years is just a drop in the bucket for us.”

Jensen grinned, turning to look at his oldest friend. “Like tears in rain; but that’s not why. Yes, I wanted him when he was just a boy; saved him from those gaybashers the night of his 17th birthday. I gave him my blood and took away the memory of that night. But it’s his bloodline, Chris; it’s his bloodline…he’s mine, don’t you understand?”

Christian walked closer to him. “No, I don’t understand.”

Jensen sighed, shaking his head and moving away from Christian. “Send me Harley and Sadie.”

“Why?”

Jensen raised his eyebrow, looking at Christian. He watched as his second-in-command left his bedroom quickly, calling for his two favorite assassin-guardians.

He called Michael into the room. A moment later, Michael entered and gave Jensen a small smile. “You need to drink. I can have Chad send up a bottle of AB.”

Jensen shook his head. “I can’t right now, not with the blood turning.”

Michael glanced at Jared and then looked at Jensen. “Tom feels horrible for what happened. Make it right with him?”

“I will,” Jensen said, flinching. “Tell him that I didn’t mean it.”

“You tell him,” Michael insisted, meeting Jensen’s gaze. “It would mean a great deal to him that you forgive him.”

Jensen nodded, taking a breath. “I don’t know how long this will take; you and Tom will have to cover for him at work. Don’t let anyone know yet. I want Jared to make the decision to tell or not.”

“Of course,” Michael said, reaching up to squeeze Jensen’s shoulder. “I know how much he means to you.”

“I’ll be out in just a moment and speak to Tom before you leave.”

“Thank you.”

Christian walked into the bedroom as Michael left. Behind him with the two twin vampires followed. They looked at Jensen – so lawless in their appearance, but so loyal in their hearts. Jensen greeted them, smiling.

“I’m glad you came.”

“We serve the vampire Elder,” Sadie said, smirking at him.

“Then serve me by swearing to protect Jared Padalecki’s life until your immortal end,” Jensen said, staring at them. This was a blood promise, one that would be kept for millennia.

“We so swear,” Harley and Sadie said, together.

“Then drink of his blood and know him,” Jensen said, walking towards Jared and lifting his wrist, offering it to them.

Harley took the first bite; Sadie next. Jensen licked the wounds closed, settling Jared’s wrist back on the bed. He didn’t stir.

“You know what to do,” Jensen said, motioning them out the door.

Harley grinned, taking his sister’s hand, leaving.

Jensen looked at Christian. “God, I can feel your disappointment clear across the room and you’re not even in my bloodline.”

“It’s your conscience talking,” Chris said, smirking.

“Fuck you.”

Christian snickered, eyeing Jared. “Yeah, I think you’re going to have your hands full, Jen. That boy is going to run circles around you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” Jensen grinned for the first time, looking at Jared. “God, I hope so.”

**

Jensen walked into the sub-basement, looking at Gordon. The other vampire was slumped on the floor, exhausted, and hungry. He snarled as Jensen walked closer to him, scuffling away until he sat against the cement wall.

“You must be delirious by now; the club is full of human scents and you can’t have a single one of them,” Jensen said, moving closer until he had caught the back of Gordon’s neck and pounded his fangs into his neck. Gordon groaned, closing his eyes, and Jensen drank his familiar blood – just enough to weaken him more, but not kill him. “I’ll check you again tomorrow night.”

Jensen walked to the door and he froze for a moment, listening to Gordon’s crazed laughter. “See you tomorrow night, daddy!”

**

Jensen felt Jared wake up and he moved quickly up the stairs to his residence. He knew Jared was in pain, waking with his first pang of hunger so intense and so deep, he knew Jared would feel like he was dying. Shit! He wanted to be there when Jared woke up. He rushed to Jared’s side, helping him.  
“Jared. Jared!”  
“Bas…bastard! Get a…away from me!”  
“You still need it!” Jensen said, dragging Jared off the floor and to the bed. “You still need my blood.”  
***

Jared woke, groggy, his neck flaring in pain. He gasped, trying to open his caked dry eyes but he gave up, too exhausted from the small effort. With only a few senses, he knew he was on a bed, but his body wouldn’t cooperate with him. A gentle hand touched his chest and Jared flinched away.

“…no…”

“Jared.”

“…no…no…”

“He’s too weak, Jensen! You have to stop.” Jared heard a man’s voice – it was familiar…was it Tommy?

Jensen. Jensen. “…Jen…”

“I’m right here, Jared.” Jared turned towards the sound of Jensen’s voice. “I’m sorry, Jared, I’m so sorry.”

Jared moaned, feeling something sharp against his neck. He tried to struggle away, but he just opened his mouth and let out a noise of protest. A moment later, the pain subsided, and he wanted to sleep.

“Jared, open your mouth. Please, just a little more,” Jensen murmured against his ear.

Jared tasted something wet in his mouth. Finally, someone was giving him something to drink. He was so thirsty and his throat was on fire. He tried swallowing and gagged, coughing.

“Don’t fight it, Jared,” Jensen insisted. “It’s almost over.”

Jared swallowed only a couple of times before trying to move away. He licked his lips – it was such a strange taste. It seemed familiar…and thick…so sweet…

“Sleep. Rest.” He heard Jensen whisper in his ear. It was such a good idea.

**

“Jared.”

That voice – he knew that voice. It was such a warm, loving sound. He turned towards it, shivering in pleasure. But he was so tired and he didn’t want to wake up just yet.

“Jared.”

But the voice was so alluring. He wanted to be close to the sound. He wanted to reach up and bury his entire body into the sound of that voice.

He felt the sharp sting against his neck and he moaned in pleasure, twisting his body against the solid warmth next to him, holding him in place. Oh, yesssssss…that’s what he wanted…he pushed his head back and offered more. More…take more…give me more…his mind fluttered against the pleasure, his body shuddering. Everything was so clear now. Vampire. Vampire. Father….oh yesssss…Jensen…

And then the taste. Even better. He licked the drops on his lips, wanting more of that taste. He reached up with his hand and pulled the source of that taste closer to his mouth. He felt a hand, dragged it towards his mouth, and tasted the source. He lapped the wrist, then pulled the arm closer, sucking out more. He groaned at the taste, now warm inside of him.

“Oh God, Jared.”

Not enough. He wanted so much more. He mewled when the wrist was taken away. He licked his lips hungrily, wanting more. But he couldn’t move yet. He was still so tired. If only Jensen would give him some more. He was…so close inside of him.

“Jensen,” Jared murmured, letting out a soft moan of pleasure.

“Rest now. Rest.”

Why wouldn’t Jared obey?

**

Jared opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He blinked a few times, just trying to reengage his brain. Shit, he felt awful! And the last thing he remembered was getting drained by a vampire in an alley. Fuck! He touched his neck, feeling for a bandage or scars, but…nothing. He neck felt smooth – as if nothing had happened.

But he knew something had happened. He was sure of it.

And this wasn’t a hospital room.

Shit, what the hell happened?

He sank back in bed and just took a moment. He closed his eyes, wracking his memory for something – anything. He remembered making the 911 call on his Blackberry. And then something else…he remembered Jensen…and Tommy’s voice…and…

He knew. He knew everything.

He threw off the sheets and moved out of bed. He looked down and saw that he was naked. He looked around for his clothes – for anything. If he had to walk out of here wearing the bed sheets, he’d fucking do it.

He knew what happened – he knew what Jensen did…

Jensen.

Oh God, he could still taste his blood in his mouth!

He moved to rip the sheets off the bed when a sharp pain had him doubled up, clutching his stomach. He fell hard on the floor, falling on his side, curling his knees close to this chest.

Fuck! Oh fuck! This was worse than anything! He was so completely lost in the pain. It felt like someone had reached into his guts and started squeezing and squeezing. He could hardly breathe from the pain. He wanted to call out – he wanted to…

“Jared. Jared!”

“Bas…bastard!” Jared gasped out, unclenching for just a moment to glare at Jensen. He let out a muffled scream, pressing his face against the floor. “Get a…away from me!”

“You still need it!” Jensen said, dragging Jared off the blood and to the bed. “You still need my blood.”

“No!” Jared tried to scramble away from him, but Jensen pushed him on his back, grabbing his wrists and pinning him down. “Fuck no! No!”

Jensen bit his wrist, then pressed it against Jared’s mouth. Jared clenched his teeth, his eyes closed, but…oh God…the smell of Jensen’s blood was a siren call he didn’t know how to refuse. He felt his lips part and he sucked in large gulps of Jensen’s blood, pulling it from his artery. He could feel Jensen’s blood moving inside of him and through him. He could feel the sickening love for Jensen’s blood starting to make its mark on his mind. His body craved it, craved more of it. And he hated it, hated all of it, and hated Jensen because of it.

God, he was so hard.

Jared turned his face away, his mouth smeared with Jensen’s blood, and he stared up at Jensen, panting. “You fucking bastard,” he hissed at Jensen. “You did this!”

“And I’d do it again in a fucking heartbeat,” Jensen hissed back, baring his fangs at Jared. “You’re mine – you’ve always been mine!”

Jared wriggled under Jensen – he was strong now, not as strong as Jensen, but he was a newly born vampire with all of the powers of a vampire. He broke Jensen’s hold on his wrists and flipped them so that Jensen was under him now. The vampire Elder growled up at him, but Jared wasn’t scared. He knew what he wanted and he was going to get it.

It was almost too easy to let all of his vampire instincts loose. He could feel his canines extend and he licked them, pricking his tongue on the sharp tip. He sucked on the wound, delighting in the mixed taste of his own blood and Jensen’s blood. He looked at Jensen, his eyes glowing deeply, like algae in the ocean at night, and Jared thought he’d never see anything so beautiful in his lifetime again. The vampire Elder – his father…and he’d need to table that for a later time because he didn’t feel that kind of love for Jensen at the moment – seemed to just watch Jared, waiting to see what he’d do.

Jared would show Jensen just what he’d do. He reached between them and tore Jensen’s button down shirt in half, nearly stripping the fabric off the vampire’s body. He grabbed Jensen’s wrists, holding them on the bed, as Jared leaned forward and smelled Jensen from neck to chest and back again.

“You smell like lust and power and aged wood, Jensen,” Jared said, licking a path from the middle of his chest to his collar bone. “Would you let me bite you? Right here?” Jared licked Jensen, right at the juncture where shoulder and neck met. “Is that against the rules?”

“Bite me, do whatever you need with me.”

Jared growled against his neck, pressing his blunt teeth against Jensen’s neck. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like for me to bite you and want you like I was some animal.”

“You’re not an animal—“

“Fuck you,” Jared hissed, moving up to stare into Jensen’s eyes. “I’m nothing more than an animal right now. All I want is your blood…” he narrowed his eyes at Jensen, inhaling Jensen’s enticing scent deeply. “All I want is your blood and to fuck, preferably at the same time. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s your instinct to want to bond with me.”

Jared extended his fangs and slammed them into Jensen’s chest, suckling from him. He was quite pleased by the shout of pain that Jensen gave, but the vampire Elder remained still. He sucked out three mouthfuls and then licked the wounds, watching them heal just seconds later.

“Am I bonding with you, Jensen?” Jared husked, looking into Jensen’s eyes coyly through his bangs. “Should I call you ‘daddy’?”

Jensen let out a deep roar and slammed Jared on his back, both of them bouncing on the mattress from the impact. Jensen’s fangs were down and he glared at Jared. “Go ahead, call me daddy. I enjoy it. I’ll enjoy it even more when you scream it while I’ve got my fangs and my cock inside of you.”

Jared didn’t see him do it, but one minute, they were scrappling on the bed, the next minute he moaned at the feel of Jensen’s slicked fingers opening him, unhesitatingly finding his prostate and pressing hard against the gland. Pleasure infused him, insidious as the vampire’s blood flowing in his veins.

“Oh God, Jensen!” Jared arched his back so quickly, he thought he’d break in half. His legs curled around the backs of Jensen’s legs, thrusting down against his fingers. His hands curled around Jensen’s shoulders, clutching him tightly. And when he looked into Jensen’s face, gone was the human façade he wore so well; the vampire Elder was feral – eyes glowing deeply, fangs extended, and blood coating his lips where the vampire had bitten himself.

He moaned as the fingers left him and Jensen manhandled him, turning him around on his belly, kneeing his thighs apart. Jared felt Jensen’s hands on his hips, raising him slightly and he let out a pleased growl at the feel of Jensen’s cock pushing inside of him, brutal and hard. Jared closed his eyes. It was just what he wanted.

He felt Jensen’s arms wrap around his middle, pulling him to his knees. He sank further onto Jensen’s cock, hissing from the sliding burn. Jensen settled them and he grabbed a fistful of Jared’s hair, jerking his head back, leaving his throat vulnerable and open.

“I don’t need to be gentle with you now, do I?” Jensen drawled, chuckling against Jared’s ear. “No matter what I do, you’ll love every single moment of it; you’ll heal quickly with my blood running through your veins; and you’ll dream about this for the rest of your immortal life.” He let go of Jared’s hair and grabbed his hips hard, jerking Jared down onto his cock.

Jared reached back, hands gripping Jensen’s thighs. “More, please more.” He didn’t even know what he was begging for, but he wanted more. He was hard; felt his own cock pressed against his lower belly, demanding attention.

“Don’t worry, Jared, I’ll give you more,” Jensen said, panting against Jared’s throat.

Jared choked on his scream, grunting as he felt Jensen’s fangs pierce his throat. It fucking hurt, but he liked it. He licked his lips, pressing hard against Jensen’s mouth, feeling the blunt lower teeth squeeze down on his flesh even more. He jerked his hips, matching Jensen’s rhythm, delirious from the pleasure of cock and fangs. He thought he’d pass out. His body strained to come, but he couldn’t quite get there. He released Jensen’s thighs, reaching for his hard and leaking cock, but Jensen grabbed his wrists, growling low, stopping him.

“Fuck, Jensen, please!”

He could hear Jensen swallowing his blood down; felt the agile tongue teasing the skin around the twin wounds where his fangs breached his neck. Oh God, it hurt, and his body was overloaded from the dueling sensation of pain and pleasure.

When Jensen finally pulled his fangs from Jared, he licked his neck and Jared’s neck throbbed with the pace of his frantic pulse. Jensen licked him again and pushed him forward on the mattress, keeping him trapped and bent over his own knees. He struggled, trying to get free, trying to touch his cock, but he couldn’t break from Jensen’s hold in his wrists. He realized, a little too late, that Jensen had let Jared pin him down before.

“This is one of my favorite positions, Jared,” Jensen said, thrusting his cock into Jared over and over again, his hips slamming against Jared’s buttocks. He pulled Jared back with his wrists, keeping him bowed over. “I used to make all of my children assume this position for me in the beginning.” He added a twist to his rhythm and Jared trembled, groaning into the bed sheets, pressing his forehead to the mattress. “They called it the ‘formal greeting’ and I was a merciless fuck in those days. This was their training ground and it can be yours, too.”

“Fuck you,” Jared panted out, struggling again. But a part of him loved it – the control, the dominance, the power of the vampire Elder. He wanted to be bent in half, bowing low, with Jensen fucking him.

“I haven’t used it in about a hundred years,” Jensen said, rising to his knees and bearing down on Jared, grinding his cock inside of him. Jared couldn’t hide; he moaned loudly, pushing back frantically on Jensen’s cock. “But I can tell I’m going to have to give you my full attention.”

Yes! Do it! Jared moaned, biting his lip with his teeth and drawing blood. The taste of Jensen’s blood was a starburst on his tongue and he mewled like a kitten. He could come like this, just like this, with Jensen’s cock in his ass and the taste of Jensen’s blood in his mouth.

“Oh yes…” Jared murmured, letting go. He squeezed his muscles, feeling Jensen shudder against him. “Yes…”

He was close. All he needed was a little more and he’d come. He couldn’t breathe right; couldn’t think right; and nothing mattered by the feel of Jensen – the scent of Jensen around him. His mind was flooded with images – blood memory, something inside told him – and he couldn’t…he couldn’t come…had to wait…oh God…Jensen, Jensen, Jensen…

“Jensen!” Jared screamed into the sheets. He felt his wrists freed, but his arms fell uselessly on the bed. He groaned in disappointment as Jensen pulled out; and he found himself on his back, staring into glowing green eyes, gasping and arching his neck when he felt Jensen’s cock sink into him in one long stroke. “Jensen…yes…please…”

He could tell that Jensen was close, too. His face was flushed with new blood, mouth parted in pleasure. Jared pulled his legs apart even more, wanting to feel closer to Jensen. He was dizzy with pleasure, his pulse going crazy, and he wanted to come. He looked at Jensen, pleading with him with his eyes, biting his lower lip. Just a little more. He just needed a little more of…of…of something. Just…

“Ahhh, fuck, yes!” Jared jerked under Jensen, feeling the vampire’s hand wrap around his cock. He was so painfully hard that the firm touch wasn’t enough anymore either. He wrapped one leg behind Jensen’s hip, curling it up high against him. “Just a little more, Jensen…I’m so close. Please, I need something…a little more!”

“Bite me,” Jensen hissed, fiercely. “Take my blood, Jared.”

Jared didn’t want to drink blood, but his vampire instinct wanted nothing more than to bite Jensen and taste him again. He reared up, sinking his fangs into Jensen’s smooth neck, and sucked.

If he could scream and swallow as the same time, Jared thought that he’d do it. The taste of Jensen was so much richer here – he tasted metallic, but sweeter and darker. Over four hundred years to taste…indescribable. He felt Jensen’s thumb rub over the head of his cock and Jared came, convulsing under Jensen. He drowned in Jensen’s blood and finally had to pull away, collapsing on the bed. He coughed up blood and his hands clenched on the sheets, tearing it from the bed. He could feel the pleasure rush from his spine, slam straight into his brain, and flow out to his limbs.

He howled, like a dying wolf – thrusting his hips against Jensen. Somewhere in the distance, he heard and felt Jensen’s pleasure, groaning as Jensen bit him again. Jared panted, trying to fill his lungs, shivering as Jensen pulled out every last shred of bliss from his body.

“Jared.”

He opened his eyes to look up at Jensen, not knowing what to say. Jensen leaned down and licked his mouth clean of blood. Jared moved his hands, covering Jensen’s naked back, stroking the smooth skin. Jensen kissed him gently, taking his time to lick and suck his tongue, searching for the last traces of blood inside his mouth.

Oh God, Jared thought, yearning for Jensen in a way that terrified him. He was a vampire. He was a vampire! He didn’t want this. Jensen had taken that choice from him. He…oh God! He wasn’t human anymore. He was immortal…a vampire. A vampire!

Jared pushed against Jensen, trying to move out from under him. Jensen growled, holding him close. “Get off.”

“Mine.”

“Yeah, I kinda get that, but get off of me,” Jared said, pushing until Jensen finally relented and moved to Jared’s side. He took a moment and then got out of bed, looking around the room for something to wear.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Oh?”

Jared turned to look at Jensen, who had propped his head up with his hand, elbow on the bed. Jensen’s face was neutral and didn’t tell him anything of what the vampire was thinking.

“And why are you leaving?”

“Why do you think?” Jared said, raising his voice. “I didn’t ask for this!”

“Would you have preferred it if I let you die?” Jensen said, sitting up and moving to stand.

“Maybe I would’ve wanted the choice!”

“There wasn’t time.”

“What do you mean there wasn’t time? Why didn’t you just take me to the hospital and let me have a blood transfusion? I called 911, I know they were coming!” Jared said, giving up on his search for clothes and taking the bed sheets and wrapping them around him.

Jensen moved so fast that Jared didn’t see him. He felt the other vampire slam him into the wall, pressing against him. “I never would’ve given you up.”

Jared shook his head. “I don’t understand…why would you make me into a vampire? You just met me. I – I didn’t want…”

“It’s too late now. You belong to me; you belong to my family.”

“I – I can’t deal with this right now,” Jared said, panicking. He couldn’t look at Jensen. He couldn’t wrap his head around this. “I have to get back home. I have…I have to go to work and…”

“Tom and Mike are taking care of things for you.”

“What? How long was I out?”

“Three days.” Jared found Jensen studying him. “It’s not like in the movies or in books. A blood turning takes time and not every human makes it through. Only the strongest survive…and it’s not a pretty process. A vampire has to kill the human several times, sharing blood and taking it, and it doesn’t always take.”

“Fuck you,” Jared said, whispering. He was horrified; and maybe he had romanticized it in his head, but he never would’ve agreed to a blood turning. “Let me go right now. Right the fuck now, Jensen.”

***

Jared turned away, unable to look at Jensen. Whoever turned Jensen into an immortal vampire did a grave injustice to the world. No man should be that beautiful; no vampire should have that kind of power. He swallowed, shaking his head. “I need my clothes.” He licked his lips and whispered, “Please.”

“You’re going to crave my blood for weeks,” Jensen said, standing in the middle of the room. “Tom and Mike are taking care of your work and –“

“Damn it! I’m not going to beg you for my clothes! I am going home right now!”

Jensen raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest.

Jared turned away, but he didn’t turn his back on the vampire Elder. Even without the vampire instincts, he knew not to leave himself open to a predator – and that’s exactly what Jensen was. And Jensen was right; he could feel the allure of the vampire. He wanted to be close to Jensen, to take more blood from him, and to get into bed and let Jensen fuck him until he was incoherent. God, this wasn’t happening!

“I need some space,” he said, trying to plead to whatever humanity still clung to the vampire. “Don’t you remember when you first became a vampire? Has it been so long for you that you can’t feel compassion for what I’m going through?”

“I know exactly what you’re going through,” Jensen said, bitingly. He let out a short, mirthless laugh. “At least you have the luxury of knowing exactly what you are – what you’ve become. My Primogenitor abandoned me to my fate. I won’t let any child of mine feel like that.”

“God, don’t call me that, okay?” Jared said, running his hand through his mangled hair. “I really can’t talk to you if you talk about our ‘father-child’ relationship. It’s…I need some space! Fuck!”

Jared picked up the blood stained sheets and twisted them around his waist, rubbing his hands over his face. Jensen moved around the bed and picked up his slacks, pulling them on. Jared could feel the heat in his stare.

“Stay here, Jared. I’m not asking.” Jensen said, walking into his closet and jerking a shirt off the hanger. Jared watched as he thrust his arms into the shirt, buttoning it quickly. “I have business to attend to; but I expect you to be in this residence when I return.”

“And if I decide to leave? What will you do?” Jared said, softly.

“My guards out in the hallway will forcibly bring you back inside and I’ll order them to tie you to the bed,” Jensen said, walking back to slip on his shoes.

Jared watched him, raising his head high, and meeting Jensen’s gaze. “You can’t hold me here against my will.”

Jensen walked to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob. He turned his head just a fraction, speaking over his shoulder. “As your Primogenitor, your will serves me, and you will stay in the residence until I return. Do I make myself clear?”

Jared was so stunned; he didn’t even know what to say to that. He watched as Jensen left, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Jared clutched the sheets around his waist, trembling. He moved to the bed, sitting on the edge, and tried to catch his breath. He didn’t…he didn’t want this. Jensen had effectively taken his life; killed him. Jared tried to accept that he was a vampire – that he was immortal; but to be treated like this, like the property of a more powerful vampire…Jared didn’t…he didn’t want this at all.

He sat on the bed and contemplated making his escape. He’d run the fuck out of here in the sheets, whatever it took. But a part of him – his vampire instincts – cried out for him to stay; that he belonged here with Jensen. His hands shook and he clutched the edge of the mattress, forcing them to stop. And he was afraid…he realized that he didn’t know Jensen, the vampire Elder; that he wasn’t just the benign ruler of the entire vampire community of San Francisco. He was a master vampire, who was almost half a millennia old. And Jared considered that in Jensen’s long life as a vampire, that he must’ve been a merciless, unforgiving, dog-in-the-fucking-manger asshole!

Jared stood up and paced the length of the bedroom, holding on to the sheets so he wouldn’t trip. Well, so what if he did now? It’s not like he’d die. Maybe if he did something that would force Jensen to chop his fucking head off – shit. Jared really liked being alive. Alive. He snorted to himself at that.

He wasn’t going to find a way out of this. He stopped pacing and just stood in the middle of the room, closing his eyes. He wondered if they had found the vampire who nearly drained him. He wondered if Jensen had ordered the vampire’s execution. What was it that the vampire said to him, his parting shot?

“When you see Jensen Ackles, tell him I said ‘fuck you.’”

More like fuck me, he thought. Jared inhaled deeply. He settled his cravings for Jensen’s blood aside; listening. He needed to know how to do this, to tap into his vampire powers. He wasn’t sure what they all were – Tom and Mike often joked about their powers, but Jared knew that they weren’t very revealing – but he needed to know what he could do now. He needed to steel whatever resolve he had to keep Jensen at an arm’s length. He would never be able to completely escape Jensen, but he had to heal the last shred of his dignity if he wanted to survive.

And Jared wanted to survive. He wanted Jensen’s blood…but Jared wanted to be his own man. Vampire. Whatever.

He breathed deeply, clearing his mind, using his senses to make his way past where he was. In was in Jensen’s residences on the 5th floor of the building; the clubs were in the main and lower levels. He wondered if he could…

And he heard them, hundreds of them, beating and pulsing in his head. Hundreds of heartbeats, blood pumping through their veins, whispering and calling for him to taste them.

Oh fuck! Jared clutched his head, falling to his knees on the hard floor. He squeezed his eyes, trying to shut off the noise. So many heartbeats, so much warm blood moving, moving, moving…he moaned, collapsing on his side. Is this what they heard all the time? How did they stay sane, listening to the constant fluttering of hearts, of blood flowing all around them? The vampires lived among the humans…how did they resist feeding? How did they fight the temptation to just take them – young, old, it didn’t matter, just as long as the blood stirred?

“Fuck! No! No!” Jared screamed, trying to stop listening. He took a deep breath and howled, letting it burn his lungs and throat raw. “No!”

Silence.

Jared panted, eyes watering with tears. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t live like this. He couldn’t walk around day in and day out and deal with…the blood. He pressed his face against the floor, curling in on himself, and allowed the passing of his humanity. He would allow himself this one moment to recognize that he was no longer human; that his mortal life was of the past; and he would face years, maybe even centuries, of being absolutely alone.

**

He felt two pairs of gentle hands, moving him, lifting him. Jared was too weak to care; didn’t care if Jensen had returned to do whatever he wanted with him. He moaned, keeping his eyes closed, as hands removed the sheet; strong arms picked him up and carried him. He heard the sound of water rushing. He curled against the vampire – oh yes, he could sense others like him now – uncaring if he was needy for gentle touch.

Someone placed him inside the bathtub and Jared luxuriated in the perfectly hot water. He sank into the tub, turning his face away. The vampire held him so that he wouldn’t sink underwater. The other hands, smaller, moved a washcloth over his body, cleaning him slowly. Jared moaned, grateful for the care. They lifted his arms, stroking him with the cloth; moved up and down his legs in an almost sensual caress. He moaned again when the hands moved over his genitals, under his ass and in between.

He was lifted into a sitting position, water poured over his head like a baptism. Firm hands rubbed shampoo into his hair. He leaned his head back, enjoying the feeling of comfort. He didn’t want to open his eyes yet. He didn’t know who he would see when he did. Water was poured over his head again, rinsing the shampoo. Strong arms picked him out of the water and a heated towel rubbed the water from his skin. He felt his feet touch the floor, but the vampire held him as if he weighed nothing; while the other vampire dried his hair.

“Jared.”

He opened his eyes, staring at the floor. He saw two pairs of boots – one small and petite, the other large. Slowly, he lifted his eyes, looking at the vampire standing in front of him. She was unusual looking – long hair dyed a midnight black, brown eyes lined with kohl, a smear of red lipstick like blood. She was pale, petite, and very pretty. She was dressed in burgundy and black leather.

“I’m Sadie,” she said, winking at him. “This is my brother, Harley.”

Jared turned to look at the vampire holding him. He was built like a football player, wide shoulders underneath his black tee-shirt, half soaked through. His hair was short and dark, his eyes lined with kohl like his sister.

“Thank you,” he said, softly.

Sadie chuckled, raising her eyebrow. “We are yours.”

“What do you mean?”

“For your transition,” Harley said, his voice deep and husky. Jared noticed that one of his eyes was green, the other brown. “We serve you.”

“Transition?” Jared said, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Come get dressed. We brought you a suitcase of things that you may want; we went to your office and Thomas gave us your laptop and files to review.” Sadie said, taking his hand and leading him back into the bedroom.

“Do I get to leave?”

“Oh no,” she said, chuckling softly. “The vampire Elder doesn’t want you far.”

“Please, I want to go home,” he said, hoping that they would take him out of there.

“This is your home,” Harley said, opening the suitcase for Jared.

Jared just stood there, too drained emotionally to fight.

Sadie picked through Jared’s clothes. “I think the blue is nice,” she held up a blue oxford button down against his chest, smiling. “With the gray pants.”

Jared couldn’t help but return the smile. “Don’t I get to wear any boxers?”

Sadie poked through his underwear and pulled out the blue polka dot shorts. “I think these will do.”

“Let me guess, your favorite color is blue.” He said, getting dressed. He didn’t know why he didn’t feel shy in front of them. Maybe it was because they had bathed him; maybe it was because he was comforted by them.

“Oh no, Harley and I always wear black. But you look very pretty in blue.”

Jared snorted, shaking his head. He looked at Harley who was sprawled across the bed, grinning at them. “How old are the two of you?”

“We’re very old, Jared,” Sadie said, wisely.

“Nearly as old as the vampire Elder.”

Jared buttoned up his shirt, taking a deep breath. “Is he your Primo…something?”

“Primogenitor. It means vampire father. Creator.” Sadie told him, watching him get dressed with a smile. “And no, he’s not our Primogenitor. He’s the vampire Elder.”

Jared nodded, sighing. “When will Jensen let me go?”

“Why do you want to leave him? He is your Primogenitor. He will need to introduce you to the rest of his children,” Harley said, looking at Jared’s sock collection. He tossed a pair to Jared, but Sadie took them away and gave him dark gray socks instead. Harley shrugged, laughing. “It’ll take a few days for him to call them together. And there will be a big party to celebrate your rebirth.”

“What? Rest of his children?” Jared said, looking up as he half-way pulled on the sock on his right foot, hopping slightly to keep his balance on his left. “Shit. How many…shit…how many children does he have anyway?”

“Fifty seven alive; sixteen that he’s executed.” Harley said, falling on his back and putting his hands behind his head. “That makes you the baby of the family, what with Gordon all locked –“

Sadie slapped Harley on the leg. “Don’t be mean to our Jared.”

Gordon? Fifty seven! Shit! Jared was having a time trying to keep up.

“Why do I have to meet the rest of them?”

Sadie turned dark eyes to him, blinking in confusion. “Don’t you want to meet your family? They will welcome you. You are Jared Padalecki, after all; you are quite notorious in some circles.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“A human who fought for vampire rights and was blood turned into one of us? Quite a bold move for the vampire Elder to take responsibility for you,” she said, softly. “It could be something good for the family; or something bad.”

Jared picked up his laptop bag, pulling out his laptop and setting it up on the small desk in Jensen’s room. He plugged it in and booted it up, pulling out the dozen or so files that Tom and Mike had sent along with it. “Does his – God, I can’t call them his ‘children’ it’s too weird. Do the other vampires live in the city, too?”

“Not all,” Harley said, turning on his belly to watch Jared. “Some are vampire Elders of their own cities.”

“Your Primogenitor’s bloodline is long and powerful, Jared.”

Jared turned to look at them, frowning slightly. Jensen’s bloodline was long and powerful; his other “children” were vampire Elders of other cities.

“How many bloodlines are there?”

Sadie shrugged. “A lot. When a vampire reaches a certain age, they ask to form their own bloodlines and blood turn their own children. But our vampire Elder’s bloodline is the strongest.”

“It’s why we serve here in his domain,” Harley said, peering at Jared. “Why are you unhappy?”

Jared sighed, staring blindly at his laptop screen. “It’s just a lot for me to get used to, Harley.”

Sadie moved off the bed and stood behind him, wrapping her arms over his shoulders. “He only blood turns those that he loves.”

“And what about the vampires that he executes?”

“They broke the covenant.”

“That Jensen created.” Jared said, turning to look into her eyes.

“That all vampires live by,” Harley added, nodding.

“So where does that leave me?”

“With me.”

Jared jumped slightly at Jensen’s voice. He turned to see Jensen leaning against the door frame, watching him.

“I take it that Harley and Sadie have started to fill you in,” Jensen drawled, gazing at him.

“Yes,” Jared said, tersely. He pulled his eyes away from Jensen to stare at the laptop screen. Sadie patted him affectionately on his back and moved away as Harley stood up, both greeting Jensen.

“I’ll take over the rest of your education now, Jared.” Jensen said, his eyes glowing green. He motioned for Harley and Sadie to leave the room, and closed the door firmly, locking it behind them.

Jared shivered, breathing quickly, his heart beating like a rabbit. At the sound of the door locking, he became so hard, the blood craving returning; and he watched, frozen in the chair, as Jensen prowled across the room towards him.

***

A part of Jared was a little detached and he could control his panic; he could feel the blood craving vibrate sensually down his spine, with an accompanying itch on the roof of his mouth. He tongued his canines as they started to extend, just the tips dropping down to press against his other teeth. But the scent of Jensen was unavoidable. He could only describe it was a banquet made up of his favorite foods, a feast for kings and gods and devils – just for him, the one perfect thing in Jared’s new life.

And funnily enough, he could sense Jensen’s hunger for him as well. It wasn’t just Jensen’s blood that he could scent; Jared could scent his own blood in Jensen and it tapped into some primordial place in his brain that claimed Jensen as his. The scent was an echo of Jared’s desire for him, but Jensen was more intense, relentless, and so familiar it was an ache to deny him.

He thought of jumping out of the chair and moving away, but Jared knew it would be futile and it would prompt Jensen to give chase. Jared didn’t want to play that game with his Primogenitor. He’d face him head on. So Jared merely sat in the chair and rubbed his hand nervously on his leg, watching Jensen.

Jensen just gave him a small grin as he came to a stop, just inches from Jared. Jared exhaled slowly, lifting his chin to look up at Jensen. He knew that this is what Jensen wanted – he wanted Jared to bare his neck to him.

And to think he was so naïve that he challenged Jensen just a few days ago – when he still had the choice to issue the challenge.

“It doesn’t have to be like this, Jared,” Jensen said, softly.

“I can feel the craving return, Jensen; it does have to be like this.” Jared looked away and then took a breath. “So do what you have to do.”

“Take off your shirt.”

Jared swallowed, standing as Jensen took a couple of steps away. His fingers went to the small buttons of his oxford and opened his shirt. He shrugged it off his shoulders and draped it over the back of the chair. He stood there, keeping his eyes off of Jensen. There was no doubt that he could hide his arousal from Jensen anyway, but he wasn’t going to be a slave to it.

“Is it just sex and blood between us?”

“We are vampires,” Jensen said, looking at him and walking around him. “Our instincts are to fuck and kill.”

Jared clenched his jaw and turned his head to look at Jensen. “Harley and Sadie said that you have a lot of…children.”

“And you’re the youngest of them all. There are things you need to know.”

“They said that I’d have to meet them.”

Jared watched as Jensen moved to stand in front of him, smiling slightly.

“In due time,” he said, leaning towards Jared. “Open your mouth and show me your fangs.”

“Why?”

“I want to see them.”

Jared made a face and opened his mouth, compelling his fangs to extend slowly. He felt Jensen’s hand cup his face, thumb moving over his bottom lip. He inhaled sharply when he felt the thumb drag against his tongue. Jensen tasted of salty skin and oddly of tobacco.

“You are a beautiful vampire, Jared,” he murmured, smiling softly. “You have strength that none of my other children had when they were first turned. They grew into their powers over years, but you…you’re a prize among vampires.”

He rubbed against one of Jared’s fangs and Jared couldn’t hold back the moan. That firm touch sent shivers of lightning pleasure through his limbs and into his cock. He closed his eyes, baring his fangs at Jensen.

Jensen chuckled and Jared could feel pressure against the tip of his fang; and the taste of Jensen’s blood fell on his tongue. Jesus…Primogenitor’s blood…

Sex and blood, Jensen had said, fucking and killing.

Jared sucked Jensen’s thumb into his mouth, pulling on the small amount of blood and licking it voraciously. He grabbed Jensen’s wrist and held it, using his fang to break the skin again, going deeper into the flesh. Jensen hissed, stepping closer to Jared.

“Don’t you want more, Jared? Don’t you want it at its source?” Jensen cajoled, smiling up at him. He moved his head slightly to the side, giving Jared something else to bite. “Come on, take it.”

Jared sucked on the thumb one more time, and then licked him clean, pulling it from his mouth. He grabbed Jensen around the waist, hauling him closer against him, using his height and strength. He licked the proffered neck and teased the area with the tips of his fangs, pleased at the sound of Jensen’s soft moan.

“It’s not just sex and blood to me, Jensen,” he said, scratching Jensen’s neck with his fangs. It was what Jensen did to him that first night together. “That’s not the kind of vampire you made with me.”

He felt Jensen’s hands move up his back, one hand curling into his hair and pulling him to his neck. “Bite and take my blood.”

Jared bit down slowly, feeling the skin parting against his fangs, the first release of blood in his mouth. Jensen shuddered in his arms and Jared licked at the small amount of blood. He closed his eyes and pushed his fangs deeper; he caught Jensen in a better position in his arms and nudged his forehead against Jensen’s jaw, looking for better placement of his head. And in between two breaths, everything just set. Jared sucked long and hard, pulling his fangs out slightly and sucking on the wounds, then digging them deeper to keep the artery open. He could feel Jensen hard against him and he tightened his hold on the vampire. Jensen let out a series of grunts, rubbing his hardness against Jared’s thigh.

“That’s good…just like that,” Jensen murmured, pulling Jared tighter against him.

Mine. Jared shivered at the thought. Mine.

Jared extracted his fangs and licked the wounds clean, knowing that Jensen would heal in seconds. He trembled, holding onto Jensen. “Jensen…I…” He hid his face against Jensen’s shoulder.

“I know what you need,” he said, pressing Jared against the wall, moving between his legs.

Jared panted harshly, watching as Jensen undid Jared’s slacks, and reached under his boxer shorts to caress his cock. Jared closed his eyes as Jensen kissed him, moaning into his mouth, and arching against the feel of his hands. Jensen paused for just a moment, undoing his own pants and pulled out his cock, pressing against Jared.

He moaned, his hands clutching Jensen’s hips, pulling him forward as they rubbed frantically against each other. Jared didn’t really need more than that. With Jensen’s blood rushing through his veins, he was primed for pleasure. And as Jensen bit into his neck, pulling back the blood he had given, Jared realized that the sex was what would bind him to Jensen faster than anything else.

And Jared realized that Jensen had already figured this out.

Jensen leaned into him as they both shook in pleasure. Jensen released his hold on both of their cocks, licking the come from his hand. He moved up to kiss Jared and Jared could taste blood and come on Jensen’s tongue. Addicted, Jared was so addicted. He sucked on Jensen’s lower lip and pulled back, pressing his head against the wall.

They both arranged their clothing, zipping and buttoning their pants, and Jensen moved back, looking at Jared. He reached over to grab Jared’s shirt from the chair and handed it to him.

“It gets easier,” he said, as Jared pulled on the shirt and buttoned it quickly, not bothering to tuck it in. “And you’re going to need to learn how to control everything that you feel.”

Jared nodded, swallowing. He sat down in the chair and ran his hand through his hair, scratching at the back of his head.

“I have invited all of my children to come to the city. In three days, they will be here and you will meet them.” Jensen told him, sitting on the edge of his bed. “What do you know about vampire families? Vampire politics?”

“Just what everyone else knows,” he said, watching Jensen closely. “Obviously, not enough.”

“Many of my children are vampire Elders of their own cities; and while I enjoy the challenge of bending you to my will, I don’t want to break you. You’re not my slave; but you are the youngest and this places you in a position of weakness in my bloodline.” Jensen stroked his chin, his eyes faraway. “I was reckless as a young vampire and without a Primogenitor to guide me, I made my own rules. I taught my children these rules and I awarded them their obeisance, punished them when they failed. You could say that I’ve mellowed out in my old age, but my first children, they’ve kept their covenant with me.”

Jared turned in his chair, facing Jensen. He couldn’t help himself, he was fascinated.

“You’re different from my other children, Jared. Your advocacy work for vampire rights as a human afforded you a respected position within the vampire community. And your political ambitions will be a skill that you will need to survive in my family. All of my children play politics – they try to curry favor with me; they test each other to gain a better position of power; and they will look to break you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Jared said, wryly. “It can’t be any worse than human politics.”

Jensen smiled, nodding. “True. But there’s something more. I haven’t blood turned a human in over 40 years. Many of them will be jealous.”

“Are you saying that they’ll try to kill me?” Jared said, jokingly.

“Yes.”

*****

“I wish I had done things differently with you,” Jensen said, taking a deep breath. “You will never understand my regret and my sadness at our last parting. And even now, despite everything that you’ve done, there’s a part of me that wants to forgive you and bring you back into the family. I never wanted us to be apart for so long and I owe it to you to tell you that I will always be sorry for what’s become of us.”

Jensen remembered what it was like to live during the heyday of the 1960s. He remembered standing near the reflecting pool at Washington DC to listen to a man speak about dreams and freedom for all men. How moved he was, how optimistic he had felt that perhaps vampires would have those same freedoms, too.

He sat back and stared at the vampire sitting across from him. “When I first saw you, you were already a man, passionate and angry, wanting all those things that free men desire most. I watched you for years before I brought you into my family, but I never realized how angry you were until it was too late. I can’t doubt my decision then; you made my city unsafe and I didn’t want to destroy you. Maybe it would’ve been better if I had.”

Jensen heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Look at what you’ve become – and I know that all of your hate is for me. I accept it and I’ll carry it for the rest of my immortal life. If I could find a way to ease your anguish, I would – but I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done.”

A throaty, wet laugh sounded and Jensen raised his head to look at Gordon. The once virile vampire was hunched against the wall, using his blunt teeth to tear at his own skin, slurping his blood. “Daddy…daddy…daddy…daddy said bad, bad, bad…”

Jensen forced himself to watch.

“I promised myself that I wouldn’t blood turn anymore children after you and for forty years, I was too afraid,” he continued, softly. “After what you did to Lenore…I believed that there was something in my blood that made you unstable. And now, because of your actions, I’ve blood turned another. And you’ll never understand my anger towards you, Gordon. You’ll never understand my horror at what you’ve done.”

“Blood,” Gordon hissed, baring bloody teeth at Jensen. “Give me blood…daddy!”

“I’ll always remember the man you were,” he said, standing and walking towards Gordon. He watched as his child whimpered and turned away, clawing at the cement wall. “I’ll always remember your speech about the God given rights of man and that our children will be born into freedom.”

“Blood daddy?” Gordon said, letting out a low whine at the back of his throat. His bloodshot eyes looked at Jensen. “Give blood now?”

Jensen reached out slowly, stroking Gordon’s cheek. He wiped the tears that were on Gordon’s face. “I’ll only remember the good man, the man who first challenged me to join the 20th century and to live in the light. That was you, Gordon, and that’s the child I will always remember in my heart.”

He grabbed the chains and kept Gordon still, gouging his neck with his fangs. With just a few pulls, he took the rest of Gordon’s blood and drained him dry until he couldn’t hear Gordon’s heartbeat. Jensen pulled away and put his hand over his mouth. Trembling, he closed Gordon’s eyes and stood up, stepping away from his dead child.

He turned to the vampires standing in the room. “Spread his ashes on the Bay.”

“Yes, Mr Ackles.”

“Ask Christian to meet me in my office.”

“Of course.”

Jensen left the sub-basement and took the elevator to the 4th floor. He nodded to his guards and walked into his office, closing the door behind him. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his mouth, biting back the howl that he wanted to scream. He fell to his knees against his desk and shook, reaching to grab the edge of the desk to keep from falling to the floor. He heard the door open and shut behind him and strong arms wrapped around him from behind.

“Jen,” Christian murmured against his ear.

“I killed him,” he said, shaking. He held on to Christian’s arms and let out a loud growl. “Oh God, I killed him.”

“I know. It had to be done. What choice did you have?”

Jensen wiped at his wet eyes and then took a deep breath, calming himself. “No choice. No choice.”

“You have us, Jen,” Christian said. Jensen felt Christian’s arms tighten around him. “Your children will be here tomorrow night to celebrate and welcome a new child into your family.”

Jensen snorted, shaking his head. “And how many of them despise me for the life I took from them? How many of them would be the first to take my head if they had the chance?”

“And what about Jared? Does he despise you?”

Jensen stood slowly and turned to look at Christian, putting his hands on Christian’s shoulders, squeezing. “He doesn’t know enough to despise me yet.”

“Why is he so special to you?”

“Chris, I…I don’t keep a lot of secrets from you, but allow me to keep this one for now.”

He watched as Christian looked at him and the other vampire nodded, turning away.

“Are the preparations for the presentation tomorrow ready?”

“Yes,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ve reserved 80 rooms at The Fairmont. There should be plenty of rooms for all of your children and their companions. Some have started arriving and have sent gifts and cards for Jared. I asked Lauren to set up a gift table in the main room. We’re shutting down the club to the public for two nights and Lauren’s getting the press release ready to explain the reason why your children are visiting – we said that you’re celebrating a special occasion but nothing specific. I’m sure you’ll be receiving well wishes from the humans and other vampires.”

“And so it begins,” Jensen said, sighing. “What else?”

“Harley and Sadie returned with Jared about 15 minutes ago. He’s in the main room sampling blood from Chad at the bar. Your boy prefers O positive, so I asked Chad to put a few bottles in your fridge.”

Jensen shared a small grin with Christian and Jensen laughed softly. “Thank you, Chris.”

“You know, he’s going to get a rough reception.”

“Yes, I know.” Jensen said, sitting down on his desk chair. “And I can’t do anything to help him. If I show him favor, it’ll only cause jealousy and dissent among the children; if I leave him unprotected, they’ll see it as my silent approval to maul him.”

“He’ll make allies with some of them. I think he’ll be able to handle it.” Christian smirked. “He can handle you.”

“Well, I’m easier to handle than some of my children,” he replied, grimly. He was worried about Jared, but he felt that he had adequately shielded him from the worst of it. He would have Harley and Sadie there with him. Even though the presentation ceremony was only for those of Jensen’s bloodline, he knew it would make an audacious statement to have Harley and Sadie there for Jared. Everyone would understand that Jared was protected – but Jensen wouldn’t be culpable. They were blood bound to Jared.

And everyone knew that the twins had voluntarily given Jensen their services as his assassins. Over the years, other vampire Elders had tried to lure them away with offers of wealth or blood or anything else that they wanted. But the twins couldn’t be bought. He never really understood why the twins wanted to serve him, but he wasn’t a fool to deny them. He knew that they would love Jared, that their loyalty to Jared would be unsurpassed.

“You could claim him.”

Oh, Jensen wanted that more than anything. But he had already taken so much; he wanted Jared to want it. He wanted Jared to be with him out of his own choice. He wanted…

“He’s at the peak of his physical beauty and he’s smart and he’s spirited…I don’t want to break him, Chris. I know he’d rather be dead than be less than the man he is,” he said, smiling slightly. “And I wouldn’t want him if he were a lesser man.”

“One day, you really have to tell me why he’s so important to you.”

Jensen nodded, looking at his hands. “One day, everyone will know why he’s important to me.”

***

“So they sent me gifts and cards because…why?”

“Well, one, they want to make sure you’re taken care of; but two, they want Jensen to know that they sent you something nice.”

“Basically, they’re kissing up to him.” Jared said, snickering. “Yeah, vampire politics is not all that different from human politics.”

Jensen chuckled, walking towards Jared and Chad. “Are you enjoying your gifts?” He looked at all the perfectly wrapped gifts arranged on the table. There were several dozen presents and next to them a stack of cards in cream, white, or gray – all thick and heavy linen or cotton papers. Oh yes, the children were starting to suck up big time.

“Jensen…wow…I mean, some of this stuff just blows my mind,” Jared said, waving the cards in his hands. “Someone named Lorelei enclosed a bank account statement with my name on it for a bank in Zurich in the amount of three million Swiss francs. And this one – Jeffrey purchased a Degas and enclosed the provenance documents for it. I never expected…”

Jensen placed his hand on Jared’s shoulder and then grinned at Chad. “Thank you, I think I can take it from here.”

“You got it, boss.” Chad said, winking at Jensen.

“Jensen, really, this is too much. I can’t accept this.”

“It would be an insult to refuse,” he said, shrugging. “The choice is yours.”

“Shit,” Jared said, rolling his eyes. “This is getting really complicated. How do you deal with this? Wouldn’t it be easier just to say, ‘okay kids, no more fucking games, just grow up and live your own life’? Is it worth the headache?”

Jensen let out a loud laugh and peered up at Jared. “You know, I’ve been asking myself that for about 350 years.”

“So why not just let it go?”

“The vampire community still needs structure, Jared. You know better than most humans what happens without structure, rules, and discipline.”

Jared placed the cards back into the envelopes and set them on the table. He looked at the multitude of boxes and the large canvases covered in bubble wrapping standing against the walls. He turned to look at Jensen, his eyes bright. “Yeah, I know first hand; but Jensen, don’t you think that vampire communities can change and grow, too? Do you think everything that we’ve worked for so hard will collapse overnight if you don’t stay true to some of your archaic rituals?”

“Some of those archaic rituals are the only things keeping some vampires on a tight leash.” Jensen said, looking at Jared. “One day, it may change; after all, we do have to adapt to the times, but it won’t be today.”

“It could start today,” Jared said, softly. “It has to start at some point, why not now?”

“Jared,” he said, running his hand through Jared’s hair. “You may have the best of intentions to want change for the vampire community, but live in it for a little more than a week before trying to institute change to something that’s held us together for centuries.”

“All right - but only because everyone is going to celebrate my vampire birthday tomorrow.” Jared said, giving Jensen a small smile. “So do I write a thank you note to them? Is that appropriate?”

Jensen snickered. “Well, in the old days, you’d offer them a taste of your blood.”

Jared made a face.

“But yes, a formal thank you note will suffice.” Jensen walked towards the paintings leaning on the wall. “You might want to consider offering your blood to any allies that you do make. It binds you closer to them, gives them an invested interest in your welfare.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for something like that.”

A part of Jensen was gratified to hear that Jared didn’t want to share his blood with the rest of his children. He glanced at Jared and saw him looking at him.

“How bad is it going to be tomorrow?”

Jensen shrugged. It was hard to predict what his children would do. “Stay close to Harley and Sadie.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Just in case.” He wanted to say more, but he didn’t want to over prepare Jared. He wanted to see Jared handle himself; in a way, it was his own test for Jared, too.

“Mr Ackles.”

“Yes Lauren.”

“There is a guest waiting for you in your residence.” She said, keeping her face neutral.

Jensen knew something was up. He nodded to her and turned to Jared. “Keep Lauren company for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

“Sure.”

Jensen felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He had a pretty good idea of who would visit him.

***

He stepped off the elevator and into his living room, looking at the petite black haired vampire sitting on the leather couch. She was of Japanese descent, with dark almond eyes, and heart shaped lips. She was still so ethereally beautiful to him. He remembered how captivated he was by her when he first bought her services in the Japanese Tea House where she lived as a young geisha girl. She was the first of his bloodline – the first human that he blood turned successfully. She was young when he killed her, her face forever set with an innocence that he knew she lost long before he met her in the tea house. She was nearly 380 years old and while her face was light of heart, her heart was such that even the devil would fear her.

But the modern world suited her with her low cut long black dress and black heels. She stood, greeting him with a formal bow. He returned it, bowing low; and waited for her to bow lower. He noticed that she did so begrudgingly.

“Hello Momoko.”

She stood, just reaching his shoulder, and smirked. “It’s actually Brittany now. Brittany Ishibashi. I haven’t used Momoko in about two hundred years.”

“Has it been that long since we last saw each other? You are welcomed to stay in one of the guest rooms on the 4th floor if you’d like.” He said, embracing her and kissing the top of her head. There was a time when he loved her and doted on her; when they were companions for decades.

He could feel her scent him and she let out a small growl. “Hmmmm…you stink of weak blood. Diluting the bloodline again, are we? I thought Gordon was the last and look how he turned out.” She let out a bored sigh. “Why have you asked me here? I am quite busy in Prague these days. I was put out when your messenger boy dared to question my loyalty to you. Why you chose Christian as your Consigliere Personale is beyond me and—“

Jensen released her quickly and slapped her hard. “Do not anger me. I’ve already drained and killed one child today!”

Brittany’s lip trembled and she raised her hand, touching her cheek. Her eyes flooded with tears and she stared up at Jensen. “Father…why do you hate me so?”

“Your innocent act in the tea house was far superior.”

Brittany let the tears fall elegantly down her cheeks for a moment; then she narrowed her brown eyes at him and smirked, wiping her face dry. “You’re no fun in your old age, daddy.”

“Momoko.”

“Fine,” she said, sitting on the leather couch. “Why do you have to keep adding to the family? Don’t you have enough children by now? Do you even remember all of us?”

“I remember all of my children.”

“Can I meet him? Your latest little boy?” Brittany said, her voice giddy. “Do you think he’ll let me have a little taste?”

“You’ll meet him at the presentation with everyone else,” he said, staring at her. “I expect you to behave yourself while you’re in my city. Just because you’re a vampire Elder doesn’t mean that I won’t take you in hand – in front of all of the children – and discipline you. You’ve gotten spoiled, Momoko, but while you are here, you are a guest.”

She moved up on her knees and smiled at him. “I’ll be a good little vampire if you let me have a little bite of you.”

He held out his wrist for her and watched as she pouted. “It’s the wrist or nothing, Momoko.”

She reached for his wrist, pushing up his sleeve. She stared up at him as she licked his wrist, then dug her fangs into his skin, pulling it open. He hissed, glaring down at her. Mean little bitch. She smirked up at him.

“I can taste him in your blood,” she said, gently licking his wound close. She gave him a coy smile. “Have you finished bonding him yet? Maybe I can help…I used to help you with the other children.”

The elevator opened and Jared stepped out, holding the cards in his hands. “Jensen, I wanted to ask you about—“ he paused, looking at Jensen. He stared for a moment at Brittany still holding on to his wrist, licking his skin. “Sorry to interrupt, I’ll just—“

Jensen jerked his wrist away from her, pulling his sleeve down. “You didn’t interrupt anything.”

He could read Jared’s face – surprise, repulsion, anger – and didn’t think this would go well.

Brittany crawled off the couch and slinked towards Jared, looking up at him. “So, you’re the newest one. Welcome to the family.”

“Thanks,” he said, softly. “You are?”

“Brittany Ishibashi.” She said, shaking his hand. “Haven’t gotten the whole family history yet? Hmmm…daddy didn’t tell you about me?”

“Momoko.” Jensen called, starting to get a really bad feeling about this.

“No, not so much,” Jared said, frowning slightly.

“Well, you see, Jared…you may be the newest one in the family, but I’m the first.” She said, smiling warmly up at him. Jensen knew that Jared wouldn’t be fooled by it. “And while you may be the newest, you probably won’t be the last. And I will always be first in Jensen’s bloodline. Isn’t that right, daddy?”

“Go to your fucking room.”

*****

Jared stared blankly at his laptop screen; his e-mail inbox had over 250 messages since he was last in the office due to a “stomach virus” - according to Tom, Mike, and Kristen. Yesterday was the first time Jared was able to leave Jensen’s residence, with Harley and Sadie, and the first two things he did was go back to his condo to pick up more things that he needed and then he stopped by the office.

Tom was the only one in the office when he arrived and Jared was pleased to spend time with his best friend. It had been a little strange to be able to sense Tom in a whole new way. It was like his senses were in 3-D and he would always know Tom now from his scent, the heat of his body, and his unique blood signature.

Jensen said that he could share his blood with his allies, to give them an invested interest in him. And if Jared couldn’t trust Tom, then who could he trust? He was nervous, standing in the middle of his office, and he didn’t know if there was a formal way to say ‘would you please bite me and be my friend and ally.’ So he just pulled back his sleeve and held up his wrist to Tom and said, “I trust you with my life and I, uh, thought you’d…”

“I’m honored and proud to be your friend, Jared,” Tom said, smiling widely. He took Jared’s wrist and bit quickly, taking just a little blood. He licked the wound closed, grinning. “And I’d be honored if you took mine as well.”

Jared swallowed, feeling his fangs descend. He’d only bitten Jensen, which always ended up with the two of them having sex, and he wasn’t sure if…

Tom frowned, lowering his wrist. “You don’t have to, Jared. It’s doesn’t have to be reciprocal.”

“No, I do,” Jared said, reaching for Tom. He laughed, nervously. “I’ve, uh, I’ve only been with Jensen and…” He could feel the blood rushing to his face.

“I know this is all new for you, but you don’t have to be shy about your reactions. A bite is a passionate thing. You wouldn’t be a vampire if you didn’t get excited by it,” Tom said, raising his wrist again. “I won’t take it personally if you get hard from my blood, Jared.”

And Jared did take a bite, watching Tom wince. He had made his first blood ally.

And in eight hours, Jared would face the rest of Jensen’s bloodline. How many of them would be his blood ally? But more importantly, how many of them would be his blood enemy? If Jared’s meeting with Brittany, Jensen’s first blood turned child, was anything to go by, then he had a long, long night ahead of him – a long life ahead of him.

He set the laptop on the coffee table and stood up from the leather couch, stretching the kinks out. He thought that being a vampire, he wouldn’t have to deal with aching joints, but he found that he didn’t feel so different anymore. He felt, well, his senses were registering at a more intense level – he hadn’t tried to do the thing with the listening again since that night he almost went a little insane listening to hundreds of hearts beating for him – but he felt…normal.

He picked up one of the colored folders that Tom gave him to review, looking at the latest council business. There was a lot to do – and now that he was a vampire, he had a personal stake in keeping a balance in both human and vampire communities. His political career would be different now as a vampire in public office…he wasn’t sure what would happen, but he wasn’t going to hide. After the presentation, he and Jensen would need to talk about Jared going back to living his life and going back to work. He would call a press conference and talk openly about what happened. He would give assurances to his human and vampire constituents that he would continue to work in the interests of both communities. It would take work, but Jared hadn’t come this far to give up all of his dreams.

The elevator doors opened and Jensen stepped out with another vampire, an older grizzly looking gentleman. Jared couldn’t stop the grin. He could tell that the other vampire, dressed in a sharp suit, wasn’t the kind of vampire who liked getting dressed up.

“Jared, are you ready for tonight?” Jensen said, smiling at him.

“As ready as I can be,” he said, setting the folder on the table.

“This is James Beaver—“

“Call me Jim, son,” the vampire said, shaking Jared’s hand.

“I’m Jared.”

“Yeah, I heard all about you already.” Jim said, smiling at him.

“James is the family historian, so to speak.” Jensen said, giving Jim an annoyed glance. “He’s going to tell you a little about the family and take you through the presentation ceremony.”

“Boy, you’re not going to do the two-hour formal ceremony, are you?” Jim said, shaking his head. “Aren’t you getting kinda old for that?”

Jensen laughed, looking at Jim. “It’s the short version.”

“Well, thank God for that,” Jim said, sitting on the couch. He eyed Jared, grinning. “You really don’t wanna know what that two-hour ceremony entailed.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Jared said, chuckling.

“I’ll be in my office if you need anything,” Jensen said, heading back to the elevator. “The children are starting to visit and I wanted to spend some time with them before the ceremony.”

The children are starting to visit. Jared alternately cringed and laughed to himself whenever he heard Jensen talk about the “children.” God – Jared was one of his children, too.

Jared nodded, watching Jensen get on the elevator. Jensen was right – the more blood he took from Jensen, the easier it was for him. His blood cravings were not as deep or as frequent. Some of it was taken care of by drinking bottled blood. But Jared found that he missed being close to Jensen, missed the act of taking and giving blood, and, well, he kind of missed the sex.

Jim chuckled, looking at Jared thoughtfully. “Oh yeah, you got it bad for him, don’t you? Don’t worry none, boy, he’s got it just as bad for you.”

Jared laughed, leaning on the couch. “All right, Jim, so give me the scoop. What am I supposed to know about Jensen and the family; and what aren’t I supposed to know? I want the whole dirty business. Don’t hold back.”

Jim laughed, slapping Jared on the back. “All right, well, where to start. How much has Jensen told you about him?”

“I only know the basics,” Jared said, leaning back on the couch.

“Well, first of all, Jensen’s not 450-years old. He’s about a hundred years older, he just doesn’t talk about the first hundred years he was a vampire.”

“Why not?”

“It was a hard time for him. No Primogenitor around to ground him; no idea what he was. He lived like a savage for a long time, just wandering from place to place. Whenever he was near any kind of human population, his instinct for blood would be hard to ignore, you know, and he’d basically drain dozens of people. And he got caught. They thought he was a demon or something, so they drowned him or burned him alive. He was tortured, but he always managed to live and survive.”

Jared turned away, horrified. He had heard the horror stories from other vampires; but to know that it happened to Jensen, his Primogenitor, it set off feelings in him towards the older vampire that he hadn’t felt before: rage against the humans who mistreated him, fear that it could happen again, sorrow that Jensen was so alone, and a deep protectiveness.

“When he blood turned me, I saw…images, I guess…but I didn’t understand what they meant at the time.”

“Hmmm…it happens when an older vampire turns a blood child. Sometimes, it gets intense and vampires can’t always control what they feel.” Jim explained, grinning. “But I don’t need to tell you that, do I?”

Jared gave him a small grin, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Jensen, he’s a smart one, and he’s one of the oldest, but that don’t make him right about everything. Back in the day, he walked around like he was hot shit, you know, and set up a bunch of archaic rules that didn’t make any sense to no one but him. He was all about control and power. Damn stubborn idjit, that boy,” Jim said, shaking his head and laughing softly.

“When did he turn you?”

“Well, now, that’s a funny story. He got me when I was fighting in the war with the Mexicans down in Texas. Boy saved my life; didn’t really want to be a vampire, but didn’t really want to die none either. Scared the bejezus out of me, he did, showing me his fangs and talking about immortality and blood drinking.” He rubbed his neck, taking a breath. “Old man like me shouldn’t have to see his own children grow old and die before him, you know, but…ah, maybe it was selfish of me not to want to die.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Nah, Jensen and I settled our past a long time ago.” Jim said, kindly. “And I don’t do any of that nonsense like calling him daddy or bowing down to him like the others.”

Jared rolled his eyes, laughing. “Thank God.”

“Boy doesn’t like all that ass kissing, just so you know. He’s right proud of his brood and his bloodline’s one of the strongest in all the vampire communities, don’t get me wrong, but Jensen – he likes order and he likes his peace and quiet. That’s why he settled here in San Francisco, invited his children and other vampires to live here. He created a safe place for us. It’s different than being in some of the other cities – there’s not a lot of ritualized formality. I think the boy’s getting kind of tired, you know, probably needs a long vacation.”

Jared looked at the grizzled vampire and sank back on the couch, laughing long and hard. “I think we’re going to be good friends, Jim.”

“Good, good, I’d like that,” he said, smiling. “So you want to know what’s going to happen at the presentation ceremony tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re gonna be stripped naked and everyone’s gonna take a little bite out of you.”

“What!” The fuck? No fucking way.

Jim laughed, shaking his head. “I’m just playing with you. No, Jensen done away with that formal bullshit a long time ago.”

“Seriously? He used to…” Jared said, making a face. “That is so not going to happen tonight.”

Jim winked at Jared, smiling widely. “Yeah, but it sure would’ve been funny.”

***

Jared was looping his tie into a Windsor knot, looking at himself in the mirror, when Jensen walked into the bedroom. Jared grinned at him, fussing with the knot. It wasn’t sitting properly. He was nervous and a little scared.

“Here, let me,” Jensen said, turning Jared to face him.

Jared watched as Jensen pulled the knot free and retied it slowly. Jared never got a chance to just look at Jensen this close. Usually, he was a little distracted from blood craving or the sex. He grinned, unable to help himself.

“What’s so funny?”

“You have freckles. Seriously, like a little kid.”

Jensen quirked his eyebrow and finished the knot, pulling it tight.

“They’re cute.” He said, chuckling softly. Jared checked the tie in the mirror, tightening it a little more. “Thanks.” He pulled down his collar and ran his hand over the front of his shirt.

“Did Jim explain what will happen tonight?” Jensen asked, holding Jared’s suit jacket, helping him into it.

“Yeah,” Jared said, pulling the jacket on and smoothing down the lapels.

“It’s going to be fine,” he said, softly. “You’ll have Harley and Sadie with you the whole time.”

He nodded, looking at Jensen in the mirror. “Okay.”

“Do you need to share blood before we go downstairs?”

Jared smiled, ducking his head. “I had some a little while ago.”

“We’ll talk afterwards,” Jensen said, reaching out to squeeze Jared’s shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, then, let’s not keep the children waiting.” Jensen said, giving Jared a wide smile. He winked, rubbing the back of Jared’s head.

Jared took a deep breath, closing his eyes for just a moment. He was surprised by the kiss, his arms moving around Jensen automatically. He could taste Jensen’s blood in his mouth and he moaned, sucking on Jensen’s tongue.

“Yeah, that’s really good, make me go down there with a hard on,” he murmured, pulling away and licking his lips. He grinned, listening to Jensen laugh, and followed him out of the room to face whatever was ahead of him tonight.

***

The main room of the club was dim. Candles were lit on the tables. Jared looked around the room at the vampires sitting down. They stood when Jensen walked into the room, greeting him with kisses and handshakes. Jared bit his lip, trying not to laugh. It reminded him of the times when he’d go to rallies and he would make his way through a crowd, kissing and shaking hands.

Jared saw Jim in the crowd and the vampire smiled, nodding to him. He looked around at the others – vampires with human faces, young and old, male and female, a spectrum of different races. All of them held their own unique beauty or strength. Jared thought that Jensen liked his children to be, well, good looking.

He caught Brittany standing near the small stage, smirking at him. She was surrounded by her entourage of vampire siblings, all leering at him. He sighed to himself as Jensen reached the stage, turning to face his children. Jared stood to the side, waiting for Jensen’s signal.

“My sons and daughters, welcome.”

“Father.” They intoned, greeting him. Jared saw that a few bowed their heads, reverently.

He motioned for Jared to stand beside him. “Children, tonight you meet your new brother, Jared. Many of you already know him from his work as vampire rights advocate and his position as the city’s councilman.” Jensen turned to look at Jared and Jared offered him a small smile. “And you have all heard of how Jared was drained and left for dead by one of our own; and that his blood turning was not a choice he made. But he is still my blood child and he is still your blood brother; and tonight, we stand as one family, united by blood.”

Jared took Jensen’s cue and moved to kneel on one knee, hands curled over his thigh. He looked up at Jensen, feeling his heart race.

“Do you acknowledge me as your Primogenitor and afford me all the rights and responsibilities of your being?”

“I do.”

“Will you offer me your blood, to take as I require?”

Jared leaned back his head, baring his neck to Jensen. He closed his eyes, feeling Jensen’s hands on his shoulders. Jensen leaned forward and licked Jared’s neck. Jared held his breath, waiting for the bite. He was glad that his suit jacket covered the front of his pants. He was hard already from the taste of Jensen’s blood; and he didn’t want to embarrass himself from Jensen’s bite in public.

Jensen chuckled softly against his ear. “Later, in private, offer me your neck again.”

Jared swallowed and stifled his moan as Jensen bit him quickly, taking just a mouthful of blood, and licking his neck clean. Jared opened his eyes, looking as Jensen pulled away, licking his lips.

“Do you swear to give him your blood in his time of need?” Jensen said, to his children.

“We so swear.” They replied.

Jensen turned to look at Jared. “Do you freely make this covenant to my bloodline for as long as you shall live?”

“I do.” And strangely enough, Jared meant it.

“Then stand and take your place and be known to your family, Jared Tristan Padalecki.”

Jared stood, shakily, and looked out at the 57 vampires standing in the room, all of them watching him and taking his measure.

*****

Jared thought the whole thing was a little anti-climatic.

A part of him was a little disappointed that there wasn’t something more. No blood sacrifice, no human offering, no chanting or torches or black robes. After the presentation, soft music filtered into the room, and the club’s wait staff carried silver trays with champagne flutes filled with chilled blood.

Actually, it wasn’t so different from the cocktail parties that Jared endured as part of his political work. He stood in one corner of the room, Harley and Sadie standing on either side of him, watching the room.

“I think you two are scaring everyone,” he said, softly. He watched as his “siblings” looked at him, whispering to each other. “This is really not that different from high school. Over there, you have all the popular kids; there you have the weird kids; and over there you have smart kids…I was really expecting someone to start a fight or something, you know; maybe an attack.”

“The vampire Elder asked us to stay close to you,” Sadie said, putting her small hand on his arm.

“I thought only Jensen’s children could be at this party.”

“Special exceptions are made for us,” Harley said, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. “We’re blood bound to you.”

Jared sipped blood from his glass. “Really? When?”

“You were not awake at the time,” she said, smiling. “Jensen let us bite you.”

“Oooo-kay,” Jared said, shaking his head. “Is there anything that’s with my consent?”

“Are you mad at us?” Harley said, turning to look at him.

“No,” he replied, sighing. “I’m glad that you’re my friends. I just wish I’m told these things.”

“You were kind of out of it,” Harley said, shrugging.

“Jay!”

Jared turned to see Michael walking towards him. Jared set his glass down and turned to hug his friend. “Mikey! What are you doing here?”

“Obviously, Jensen’s my Primogenitor.” Michael said, rolling his eyes. “How’d you think I snagged an invite?”

Jared grinned, looking around the room. “Is Tom with you?”

“Nope, unfortunately not. This party’s just for family; Tommy’s loyal to Jensen, but he’s not part of Jensen’s bloodline.” Michael said, smiling. He looked at Sadie and Harley, leaning to give Sadie a kiss on the cheek. “Hello, beautiful. Keeping this one out of trouble?”

“We are so bound,” she said, smiling up at Michael.

“Hey, let me borrow him for a few minutes,” Michael said, taking Jared’s arm and leading him away. “I’m going to introduce him to a few vamps.”

Jared nodded at Sadie and Harley and followed Mike through the crowd. He was relieved to see Mike, glad to have another ally. “I asked Tom to bite me.”

“Yeah, I know. Maybe you’ll ask me as well,” he said, thoughtfully.

“Okay, just, not in front of everyone, okay?” Jared whispered.

Michael laughed, turning to look at him. “Still shy, huh? Don’t worry, everyone already knows what you and Jensen have been up to.”

“Shit,” he whispered, then cleared his throat when Michael stopped in front of two distinguished looking vampires.

“Jeffrey. Samantha. This is Jared.” Michael said, smiling. “Jay, this is Jeff Morgan, vampire Elder of New York; and Sam Ferris, vampire Elder of Seattle.”

Jared shook their hands, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”

“Well, we’ve certainly heard a great deal about you, Jared,” Samantha said, grinning warmly at him. “Before you were blood turned.”

“I’m really sorry about what happened with Gordon,” Jeffrey said, softly.

“Gordon?” Jared said, curiously. He’d heard that name before. The three of them just stared at Jared for a long moment. “Mike?”

“Gordon was the vampire that drained you, Jay,” Michael said, looking at Jeffrey and Samantha. “He was caught and Jensen ordered his execution.”

“I…I didn’t know,” he said, frowning.

Michael put his hand on Jared’s back. “Look, it’s all right. He broke the covenant –“

“Broke it a long time ago, but Jensen exiled him out of the city,” Jeffrey said, looking at Jared. “Gordon was Jensen’s last blood turned child before you.”

“I see,” Jared said, slowly. In all honesty, he didn’t. He wasn’t so liberal that he didn’t believe in capital punishment, but he believed in the law and he believed in justice. For Jensen to have just made a unilateral decision on someone’s life – a vampire’s life, even if the vampire was his own child – it didn’t sit well with Jared. “What about the vampire council? I thought the council made these types of decisions.”

“It was special circumstances, Jay,” Michael said, shaking his head. “Like your blood turning.”

“Special circumstances,” Jared said, giving a mirthless laugh. “Well, I guess we don’t really need to have a discussion on it then because it was special circumstances.”

“Excuse us,” Michael said, taking Jared by the arm and pulling him away towards an empty part of the club. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What the hell is wrong with me? Are you kidding me? I just found out that the vampire who nearly killed me – one of our siblings – was summarily executed by Jensen without a say so from the vampire council!”

“Did you really expect him to let it go after what happened to you?” Michael said, hissing in his face. “I would’ve killed him myself if I could!”

“Trouble in paradise, boys?”

They turned to see Brittany standing nearby. Jared watched as Michael grinned at her, leaning to kiss her on the cheek.

“Hello, big sister, gorgeous as ever,” he said, nipping at her earlobe.

“Naughty!” Brittany said, smacking Michael on his chin. She turned and looked at Jared. “So, you’re officially part of the family now.”

“Are you still mad that daddy sent you to your room without dinner?” Jared said, sweetly.

Brittany gazed up at him, amused. “It would be so easy to destroy you, little one; but you’re lucky I like your face. I’ve decided that we should be friends. And as a friend, don’t you want me to have a small bite?”

“Forget it, Brittany,” Jared said, snorting. “You’re really not going to get my blood. Ever.”

“Well, we still have time to correct that. If you live long enough, Jared, you and I could be very good friends. You really don’t want me as an enemy,” she said, linking her arm in his. “Come with me and let me make some introductions now that your two guard dogs are away.” She blew a kiss to Michael. “Away with you, scoundrel. I expect you and Thomas to be ready for my visit after the weekend.”

“I’m sure we’ll be looking forward to it.”

Jared made a face at Michael as Brittany pulled him across the room.

***

It was after two in the morning by the time Jared left the main room and headed up to Jensen’s residence. He was exhausted and relieved that the presentation ceremony was over. All in all, everyone was perfectly polite – no one bared their fangs at him (well, except Brittany, but he wasn’t afraid of her); no one made a threat. Everyone acted cordially, friendly but in a way that let Jared know he was an outsider. He wasn’t surprised, but it made him a little more wary. He could face a direct attack – he knew how to handle it; but it was the underhanded attacks, the manipulations, the deceptions, and the power plays that he wouldn’t expect. His political skills were only a few years old – these vampires, his siblings, they had centuries of experience behind them.

But it was over and Jared wasn’t going to worry about it. When would he ever see any of his siblings again anyway? He was looking forward to getting back to his life and his work. He understood that he had certain obligations to his family now, his extended vampire family, and he accepted what he was. He would just have to work out the details of living for a very long, long time.

He took off his jacket and pulled down his necktie, wondering if he should shower first or just fall in the bed and sleep. Over the past few nights, he was getting used to sleeping in the same bed with Jensen. A part of him would miss the closeness he had with his Primogenitor. Wow…he was thinking of Jensen as his Primogenitor. Did it happen to all vampires? Did they all instinctively know the vampire who blood turned them as their creator?

“Hey.”

Jared smiled, looking at Jensen. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Really?” He said, raising his eyebrow and walking towards Jared. “Ready to bare your neck to me?”

“Can we talk first?”

“Sure,” Jensen said, patting his chest and moving away. “What’s on your mind, Jared?”

“I wanted to talk about going back to my place and going back to work,” he said, softly.

“You don’t need my permission. The presentation ceremony is over; everyone will know that you are part of my bloodline. I only wanted to keep you here until you were formally acknowledged and accepted. That affords you enough protection to return to your life.” He said, sitting down on the chair.

Jared nodded. “All right.”

“What else is there?”

“Gordon…I heard he was your child, before me, and you had him executed.”

Jensen leaned in his chair and gazed at Jared. “It’s true.”

“I guess I don’t understand how you could do that.”

“I’m real pleased with the way that you’ve learned to accept this, Jared. And I’ll always be sorry that one of mine tried to kill you, but again, I don’t regret blood turning you.” He paused for a long moment, looking at his hands. “There is something else.”

Jared sat on the bed across from him, waiting.

“I’ve known you for a long time. I once found you nearly dead in a parking lot when you were just a boy – 16 or 17 or so. Three guys saw you and your friends leave a club; they were gaybashers and just waiting to beat up on someone – anyone. It didn’t matter who.”

“I don’t remember…” He only had brief images, lost memories…nothing specific.

“No, you wouldn’t. I gave you my blood and healed you; and then I took the memory of that night from you.”

“I remember waking up a little dazed and sore on the ground, but I thought I was just hung over or something.” He took a deep breath. “And then you found me nearly dead in an alley a second time. That probably freaked you out, since you saved my life once already.”

“It made me angry because the vampire who attacked you was one of mine.” Jensen told him, his voice rough and his eyes starting to glow. “Did James tell you anything about my life before I was blood turned?”

“No, nothing specific.”

“You know, I had a family of my own when I was blood turned. I had a wife and two young daughters. But I was a soldier and I went where my King told me. I was leaving a tavern, drunk on ale, when the vampire turned me. I never knew what was wrong. I woke up with a thirst I couldn’t name; the pain was terrible and it only went away when I’d bite my own arm and taste my blood. I lived off the blood of animals. And I died on the battlefield and woke up, surrounded by the stench of dead bodies and blood, and I drank from them, some of them my friends. I thought I was a monster and I couldn’t go home to my family. How could I go back to them?” Jensen said, looking at the wall. “My wife and one of my daughters died from the Black Death. My wife’s family took in my other daughter, Rebecca.

“She was beautiful, Jared, and she grew up happy and healthy and into a real lady. She married and had her own children; and her children grew up and had their own children. I returned whenever I could to watch them grow and live and die. Seventeen generations.” He smiled, turning to look at Jared. “And when my family moved to the New World, I came, too.”

“And when my family settled in Texas, I went there to be close to them. And I only watched from afar. I never got too close, never wanting to give anyone – any vampire – any idea that my human bloodline survived; so I settled in San Francisco and created a safe haven here. Then Sharon married a gentle man named Gerald and they had a beautiful son. I was so pleased when he decided to live in my city, so close by now –“

“No,” Jared said, sharply.

“So when Gordon drained you, he didn’t know this, but he took the last of my human family.”

“No! I don’t fucking believe you!” Jared shouted, standing. “I don’t believe you.”

“You’re mine, Jared, you’ve always been mine. You are the last of my human bloodline and you are my heir to everything I have.”

TBC…

A/N: I totally changed Jared’s family to suit the story so he’s an only child. Cheers!

*****

“No! I don’t fucking believe you!” Jared shouted, standing. “I don’t believe you.”

“You’re mine, Jared, you’ve always been mine. You are the last of my human bloodline and you are my heir to everything I have.”

“No, no, no, no!” Jared said, shaking his head. “I can’t take anymore of this, Jensen. I just started getting used to the fact that I’m a vampire and that I’ve got a whole new family of vampires – I can’t take this! This is crazy!”

“It’s not crazy. It’s the truth,” Jensen said, calmly.

“So you’re what, my great-great-great – Jesus – grandfather!” Jared barked out a laugh, choking on his words.

“Give or take a ‘great’ or two.”

“This isn’t funny! We’re blood relations and we…oh my God…we’ve been having sex for days and…my momma is going to kill me!”

Jared glared at Jensen when he started snickering. How can that bastard laugh about this?

“I’m so sorry. I know it’s not funny, but – your momma is going to kill you when she finds out that you’ve been sleeping with your great grandfather sixteen times removed? I think that’s the least of your worries, Jared.”

Jared picked up his jacket and pulled it on. “I’m leaving.”

“Jared—“

He ignored Jensen’s call and headed for the elevator. He hit the button for the main floor of the club, hands clenched by his side. When he walked out, the party was still going strong. He stared out at the room and saw Harley and Sadie standing at the bar with Mike. Jared cut a swath through the main floor directly for the two vampires.

“I’m leaving right now.”

“What? Why? Did you and Jen have a fight?” Mike said, putting his hand on Jared’s arm.

“Something like that.”

Harley placed his hand over Jared’s heart. “Calm yourself. We could all hear your heartbeat in the elevator.”

“Your eyes are glowing,” Sadie said, stroking his cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

Jared closed his eyes, catching his breath. He could hear his heartbeat slowing to normal and he opened his eyes, gazing at them. “Take me home, please.”

And that was all he needed to say. Harley led the way and Sadie took his arm. He could barely hear the voices of the vampires in the room. Maybe they heard his conversation with Jensen; maybe they would gossip about it. But Harley and Sadie were getting him out of the club so he didn’t care. He looked up to see Jensen standing in the hallway, hands in his pockets, and a small smile of regret on his lips. Jared ignored it and left with Harley and Sadie.

Jared was home before he could unscramble his thoughts. Harley drove like a crazed racecar driver, hitting the road rough in Jared’s SUV. Sadie murmured words in his ear, stroking him, petting his hair, and all he could hear was the rushing of his blood and soft words in a language he didn’t understand.

He opened the door to his condo, turning on the lights. Harley and Sadie checked the rooms as he just stood there. This was unbelievable. Jared didn’t think it could get any worse, but Jensen sure liked to surprise him. He really didn’t want to think about Jensen being his great-great-great-plus grandfather. It disturbed him on levels that he didn’t even know existed. Oh God – incest! It was incest! So what if they were 500-years apart. If Jensen was right, they were family, and Jared was fucking his…

“Oh God,” he gasped, pressing the heel of his hands against his eyes. “This is so wrong.”

“What’s so wrong?” Harley said, sitting on the sofa, sprawled comfortably.

“The house is safe,” Sadie said, coming out of Jared’s bedroom. “What is it? You can share it with us.”

Jared kept one hand over his eyes. “I just found out that Jensen is – was – I’m not just his blood child, I was his human descendant.”

When Harley and Sadie didn’t say anything, Jared pulled his hand away and looked at them.

“Is that something not wonderful? To have him as your human and vampire creator?” Sadie said, curling up in one of the leather armchairs.

“How come he’s so sure about that?” Harley said, twisting around to look up at Jared. “Just because the vampire Elder said so?”

“Why would he lie?” Sadie said, giving her twin a mock glare.

Harley shrugged. “Didn’t say he was lying; how come he’s sure about it?”

Jared swallowed, nodding. “Yes, yes, that’s right, how would Jensen really know? I mean, it’s not – “ Jared went to his side table and picked up his telephone, dialing a familiar number.

He pressed the phone against his ear, listening to it ring. On the fourth ring, a sleepy woman’s voice answered, “yes?”

“Momma!”

“JT?”

“Momma, you have to check something for me in the family Bible, you know the one where everyone on your side of the family is listed!”

“Jared, honey, what time is it?” She said, then gasped. “It’s four in the morning. Is something the matter?”

Jared froze, looking at the digital clock over his bookcase. It was a little after 3 AM in San Francisco and Texas an hour ahead. Shit. Shit! “Uh, no, nothing’s wrong, momma. I just –“

“Are you sure? You sound like you’re in trouble. I’m going to wake up your father-“

“No, no, no, no,” Jared said and laughed, somewhat hysterically. He could not have this conversation with his parents right now. “No, I’m just…I’m just…”

“Drunk,” Harley said, smiling widely. Sadie pressed her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

“Drunk. I’m drunk, momma,” Jared said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He sat down on a bar stool and pressed his hand over his face.

“Are you drunk calling me, son? Jared Tristan Padalecki, really, this is just unhealthy behavior!”

Oh my God, can we talk about unhealthy behaviors? Jared groaned silently in his head. He really wasn’t looking forward to telling his parents that he was a vampire. He had no idea how they were going to react to something like that.

“I’m sorry, momma. I’ll just…just go to bed now and sleep it off.”

“Yes, I think that would be the best thing to do. I will call you at a reasonable time in the morning and we will have a conversation about this type of lifestyle.” She said, her voice firm.

“Yes, momma. Sorry for waking you and making you worry.” Oh my God, this is nothing compared to what I’m going to have to tell you eventually. Shit!

“Well, if everything is fine, then sleep well, JT. Drink a lot of water first.”

“Okay. Goodbye.” He ended the call and let out a loud groan. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”

“Come on,” Harley said, moving to pull Jared to his feet. “You’re exhausted. You need sleep. You’ll think better in the morning.”

Jared was shaking, the last of his adrenaline leaving him. He let Harley take him into the bedroom, setting him on the bed. He could hear Sadie locking doors and turning off the lights. She walked into the room as Harley was helping him undress. She closed the bedroom door and locked it, closed the curtains, and began taking off her clothes.

“Whoa, Harley, really…” Jared made only a token protest when Harley pulled off his boxers.

“Sleep better without clothes,” Harley said, pushing Jared naked into the bed and pulling the sheets and comforter from under him. He pulled of his clothes quickly and Sadie crawled into bed naked, snuggling in beside Jared.

Harley pushed Jared on his side, facing Sadie, and moved behind Jared. He grabbed the sheets and comforter, pulling it over the three of them. “Just sleep. We’ll keep you safe.”

Jared listened to the steady drum of their heartbeat. Their hands moved gently over him, not to arouse, but to comfort and soothe. He tangled his arms and legs with them, pulling Harley closer against him and moving Sadie into his arms. He loved their scents – she was like cinnamon and Harley was like fresh cut grass. It reminded him of growing up during the summers in San Antonio. He felt Harley’s large hand move over his stomach and down to cover his cock. He knew that it wasn’t sexual, and he closed his eyes, leaning into both of them, breathing slower until he didn’t have to worry about anything at all.

***

When Jared woke up, he knew instinctively that it was nearly noon. Harley dozed beside him but Sadie wasn’t in bed. Jared turned to look at the other vampire and he opened one of his eyes – the green one – and peered at Jared.

“You sleep okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Jared said, falling against the pillows and taking a deep breath.

“Good thing you have a big bed,” Harley said, chuckling.

Jared grinned, staring at the ceiling. “Came in handy for our sleepover. You two plan on staying over all the time?”

Harley shrugged, rubbing Jared’s head. “Only when you need us, Jared.”

Jared’s stomach grumbled but it wasn’t for food. Harley propped up his head and looked at Jared. “You need blood, don’t you?”

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I’m still not…I’m still craving Jensen’s blood. It’s the only thing that settles my hunger.”

“Yeah, Primogenitor’s blood is strong. Sadie and I didn’t want to stop taking our Primogenitor’s blood for ten years.”

Jared groaned, covering his face with his hands. “Oh God, I can’t keep going to Jensen for ten years and asking to drink his blood.”

“Why not? He won’t refuse you.” Harley said, pulling Jared’s hand away. Jared watched, part in horror and part in hunger, as Harley bit into his wrist and offered it to Jared. “Come on, you need to have some. It’s what we do.”

“To be my blood bank?” Jared said, trying to move away. Harley grabbed Jared by the hair and kept him still. “Harley, come on—“

“Drink, Jared,” Harley said, his voice gruff. “Stupid not to; you’ll get the pains.”

Jared licked his lips and nodded, looking at Harley. He opened his mouth and pressed Harley’s wrist against his mouth, sucking just once to pull out only a mouthful of blood. He closed his eyes at the taste – strong, like Jensen, he could taste Harley’s age; and salty, but in a good way, like chicken soup is salty. He could feel his body warming, his cock already hard and pooling pre-come on his belly. He moaned, taking another mouthful. He swallowed quickly, licking the wounds.

“Thank you.”

Harley snorted, gazing at him. With a final pat to Jared’s head, which made Jared roll his eyes, Harley tossed the sheets aside and sat up, stretching. Jared turned to look at the other vampire. Harley was all muscle, not an ounce of body fat. He looked like he was a fighter.

“Will you tell me about you and Sadie, how you were blood turned, how old you are?”

Harley walked into the bathroom, grinning over his shoulder. “Yeah, we’ll tell you about it. Sometime.”

Jared sank into the bed, licking the taste of Harley’s blood in his mouth. He closed his eyes, snuck his hand under the sheets to touch his hard cock. Harley’s blood was good – in fact, any time Jared drank blood, it was good. But nothing came close to how drinking Jensen’s blood made him feel. It made him hot and it filled him; he didn’t even know he had any empty spaces but Jensen’s blood was satisfying on a primal level. And, of course, Jared felt the connection to him – he felt Jensen’s presence. It was electric and it was soothing. Jensen’s blood made the cravings disappear and the sex…oh God, the sex between them was so fucking hot! He couldn’t stop remembering that first night together, when Jensen had bent him over and grabbed his wrists, fucking him hard. Oh God, the formal greeting – Jensen’s favorite position. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Jared muffled his groan, clutching the pillow over his head as his hand jerked smoothly over his cock. He pressed the heels of his feet against the bed, thrusting his hips slightly.

He couldn’t stop remembering the way Jensen felt over him, pinning him to the bed, whispering in his ear all the ways that Jensen would fuck him, and how the pain from Jensen’s bite in his neck slid right into his cock. It was always like that with Jensen; it was also so exciting and darkly passionate and a little scary and…oh God…he was so close…

“Jared – ohhhhh…“

Oh fuck, that was Sadie.

Jared pulled the pillow over his face and bit it, moaning as he fucked his hand, rough and fast, coming thickly. He really, really wanted to die. He really didn’t want to think about jerking off to memories of sex with his great-great-damn it-grandfather and Sadie walking into the room to watch him. He wiped his hand on the sheet and let out another groan, sensing Sadie still in the room.

“Go away!” He yelled through the pillow.

Sadie laughed, tugging the pillow from him. Jared covered his face with his arm, trying to turn away from her. “Why are you so shy? Are you this shy with Jensen?”

“Oh God, don’t talk about him now!”

“Were you thinking about him? I know you had some of Harley’s blood.” He felt her get on the bed beside him.

Jared curled further away from her, trying to hide under the sheets. “Go away, Sadie!”

“What’s wrong?” Harley said, walking into the bedroom. Jared looked up and then covered his head again. Harley was naked and rubbing a towel on his head.

“You two really need to give me a little more privacy!” Jared shouted from under the covers. Mortified didn’t cover what he was feeling.

“He was pleasuring himself when I walked in,” Sadie told her brother. “We’ll have to change the bed sheets later.”

“Oh God!”

Harley laughed, throatily.

***

Jared was dying for some coffee. He was glad that he could eat if he wanted to; it just wouldn’t sustain him. His body functioned the same way, but only when he ate or drank food. He was tempted to ditch Harley and Sadie and make a coffee run, mostly because he couldn’t stop turning red whenever he caught one or the other looking at him.

He looked out the window, gazing out at the city. His condo was on the 14th floor of the high rise complex and he enjoyed the city’s skyline. It was all hills, cable cars, and Golden Gate Bridge; brightly colored walls and people living their lives in peace. He smiled, wondering what his life would be like 50 years from now; 100 years from now; 500 years from now.

He turned to the door and grinned, knowing that Tom and Michael were on their way. He opened it, right before Tom could knock, and dove right at them, hugging both tightly.

“Good to see you, too, little brother.” Michael laughed, thumping Jared on the back, walking into the room.

“Seriously, don’t call me that.” Jared said to him.

“How are you?” Tom said, pushing Jared back into the living room. “Hello Harley. Sadie.”

Michael made kissy faces at Harley and rubbed Sadie’s head.

Harley waved at them, lounging on his back on the carpet by the fireplace, reading one of Jared’s books. Sadie grinned at them, nodding to the music on Jared’s iPod.

“So, you know, not bad; I’m a vampire now, I’ve been having sex with my great-great-great-and so on-great granddad; and I was just contemplating what my life would be like 500 years from now. So considering, not bad.” Jared said, laughing.

“Shit, you’re having a breakdown, aren’t you?” Michael said, pushing Jared towards the couch and making him sit down. “Look, as your big brother, I want to tell you that it’s not all that bad; everything is going to be fine. We’re all going to look out for you now.”

Jared smacked him on the back of the head. “Did you know?”

“Ow!” Michael said, scowling. “Know what?”

“About me? About everything?”

“We didn’t know, Jared,” Tom said, softly. “But it certainly does explain things.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t take this personally, little bro, but no one could understand why Jensen was so obsessed with you,” Michael said, smiling.

Jared rolled his eyes.

“Come on, I mean, you’re a great guy, you look good, you smelled great as a human and a hundred times better now as a vampire, but come on – Jensen’s been obsessing over you for years now. None of us could figure it out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Jensen’s my Primogenitor; and Jensen is Tom’s vampire Elder. We couldn’t break his confidence.” Michael said, shrugging.

Jared felt an odd tingling and he looked at the door. Tom went to open it, greeting the vampire at the door.

“Christian.”

“Hello, Tom.”

He moved aside, letting Christian walk into Jared’s living room. Jared stood up, looking at the unfamiliar vampire. He didn’t recognize him from the ceremony, so he wasn’t one of Jensen’s – he wasn’t one of his siblings. “Hey.”

“I’m Christian Kane,” the other vampire said. Jared shook his hand. “Jensen asked me to give you some things to review.”

Jared noticed that Christian carried a large case. He motioned for Christian to put it on the dining room table, wondering what Jensen sent him. He groaned, internally, as Christian began to pull out thick sheaves of papers – thick, flagged with little red stickers, and bound at the top. He had interned at a large law firm and spent hours pouring over legal documents.

“Contracts?”

Christian set five thickly bound, blue covered documents on the dining room table. He closed the case and set it on the floor. “Yes. These are all of Jensen’s estate holdings, bank accounts, businesses, and miscellaneous properties.”

“Why would Jensen want me to review them?” He said, frowning. “And I really, really hated contract law, by the way, so it’s not like he’s asking me to do legal consulting work.”

He looked at Christian and found the other vampire looking at him as if he was an idiot. Jared felt his face turn red and he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the documents. “It’s because he thinks I’m his heir.”

“If I can speak frankly, Jared?” Christian said, and Jared nodded. “I think you’re nothing more than a gold digger – just another vampire kid that wants a share of Jensen’s power base or his money or whatever—“

“No! I don’t!”

“I’ve spent about a hundred years protecting him from his children. I’ve seen it all, Jared, so there’s nothing new that you can do that I haven’t seen done already. I’m Jensen’s Consigliere Personale, you know what that is?”

Jared stared at him. “Isn’t that from ‘The Godfather’?”

“It means personal advisor,” Christian said, growling. “It means that I protect Jensen in everything. Everything. You get me?” Jared nodded, even though he really didn’t. “I’ve fended off the worst of his parasitic children – but you, I don’t know how to protect Jensen from you.”

“I’m not a threat to him!”

Christian gave him a long look and Jared held the stare. He wasn’t going to break first; and fuck, Christian didn’t either. The shorter vampire merely stepped closer to Jared and for the first time, Jared was a little intimidated. “That’s why I haven’t ripped your head off.”

Jared blinked, taking a step back. This was not a vampire to fuck with in any way.

Christian cleared his throat and pulled out his business card, handing it to Jared. “Review the contracts – sign them, don’t sign them, it’s not my business. If you fuck around with Jensen, then it becomes my business. Call me when you’re finished with the documents. I’ll come and get them and file them.” He picked up his empty case and smoothed down his necktie.

“Okay. Um, thanks, Christian,” Jared said, tentatively.

Christian gave him another long look and then nodded to the others, heading for the door. Jared sat down in one of the table chairs and flipped through one set of the documents. He eyes widened, shaking his head, looking at some of the dollar amounts attached to his assets. He tossed it on the table and closed his eyes, pressing his fingers on his forehead.

Jensen really didn’t expect him to accept any of this?

The sound of the telephone made him jump and he lunged for it, pressing the talk button. “Yeah?”

“Is that any way to answer the phone?”

“Momma!” Jared cringed, falling back in his chair.

“Are you sober now?”

“Yes.”

“Now, why on earth did you call so early, babbling about the family Bible?”

Jared shook his head. “Really, I was just being stupid. It won’t happen again.”

“I would hope not,” she said, softly. “You’re a councilman, JT. You can’t be like everybody else. They hold you to a higher standard in public office.”

“Yes, I know, momma.”

”Well, if you’re certain everything is all right…”

“It is, I promise,” he said, lying through his teeth. He hoped that this was one time his mother wouldn’t call him on it.

She sounded relieved. “All right, then. I’ll just tell your father that you were having a bit of fun so as not to upset him.”

“Okay. Thanks, momma. I’ll talk you again soon.”

“Of course, honey. We love you.”

“I love you, too. Tell dad, too.”

“I will. Behave up there.” She said, her voice amused and sweet.

Jared ended the call and stared at the phone for a long moment. For just a split second, he entertained the thought of blood turning his parents. He’d have them forever; he’d never see them grow older or die. They could always be a family.

Oh God. He couldn’t. He really couldn’t! He couldn’t do something like that to another human being. He couldn’t take away the peace of knowing an afterlife. His parents were God-fearing Christians who believed in Heaven and Hell. And his parents believed that they had lead a good life and that they would be welcomed home. He couldn’t take it away from them, the hope for a joyful afterlife. It would be selfish of him to bind them forever to immortality.

He sighed – he would need to tell his parents that he was a vampire. He just didn’t know how.

“You all right?” Harley said, standing next to him. “You need more blood?”

“No, I’m okay,” Jared said, smiling. “I was just thinking about…”

“Your folks, huh?”

“You read minds?”

“No, don’t have to. Your face tells everything,” he said, then turned to look pointedly at Sadie, laughing with Michael and Tom. “I was blood turned first. Even before I understood what I was, I blood turned her. She’s my twin. So I know what you’re thinking.”

The doorbell rang and Jared smiled, patting Harley on his shoulder. It was Grand Central Station at Padalecki’s today. He opened it to see Chad, holding a wooden wine crate in his hands. “Hi.”

“Hey, Jared, how are you?” Chad said, smiling.

“Let me take that,” Jared said, taking the box. “What’s this?”

“Jensen asked me to deliver you some fresh bottled blood. I got your favorite and Jensen added in a couple of rare blood types for you,” Chad said, looking around the room. “Hey!”

The other vampires greeted Chad with affection as Jared took the crate into the kitchen and placed the bottles into his fridge. He noticed that it was empty of food – Sadie probably threw out all the food that spoiled during the time he was with Jensen. Jared was glad that he had the blood. He wouldn’t need to rely on anyone – biting someone was a private thing to him. When he bit Michael and shared blood with him, the familiar taste of Jensen in Michael’s blood nearly made him blind with lust; and he had pinned Michael to the wall, scenting him and growling in his ear. Afterwards, he blushed hotly to the tips of his ears and apologized, feeling like the biggest tool. Michael had laughed, patting him on the back.

Jared found Chad lounging against the couch, and he looked up, grinning. “Thanks for bringing the blood. I really appreciate it.” He handed Chad the empty crate.

“No problem. Let me know if you need more. I’ll hold some in reserve for you,” Chad said, standing. “I’ve got to get back. I need to restock the club. Your family is still in town and the club’s closed to the public tonight, too. You should come by.”

Jared gave him a small grin. “Thanks. I don’t know…but thanks.”

He walked Chad to the door, opening it for him. Jared took a breath when he saw Sandy about to knock. She jumped seeing him, but grinned.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for a week!” She said, giving Jared a hug. He pressed her close, closing his eyes and smelling her. She still wore the perfume that made her smell like sugar, but underneath, he could scent her blood and she was alluring – not sweet, but heavy and earthy. She smelled like bourbon and moss. He was surprised to smell that she was menstruating and a little embarrassed that he knew it.

He pulled away, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, a lot has happened since the last time I saw you. Come inside.”

Jared stepped aside and waited for Sandy to walk into the living room. He closed the door and saw her tense, looking at the others in the room. He took her hand and led her towards the balcony behind the dining room. “Come on, we can talk out here. I have something I need to tell you.”

“What is it? I’ve been trying to reach you forever and you don’t answer your phone, I’ve let dozens of messages on your machine, and Tom, Mike and Kristen wouldn’t tell me anything. They really don’t like me, Jared, and they’re keeping me from seeing you.”

He stroked her shoulders, trying to calm her. “Sandy…I…I was blood turned. I’m a vampire.”

“What?” She said, stepping back from him. She looked at him and then shook her head. “You let Jensen Ackles turn you? How could you, Jared? Did you want this?”

“No! No, it wasn’t…a vampire attacked me and Jensen saved me.” He moved to her, but she backed away from him.

“You’re not human?”

Jared shook his head.

“Was it forced? You said that he saved you…I don’t understand.”

He leaned against the side of the balcony wall, taking a breath. “Sometimes, I don’t understand it either. I was dying, Sandy, and even though it wasn’t something I wanted, I didn’t want to die.”

“So now you’re just this…vampire and you’ll never die. You’re…” she said, her bottom lip shaking. He wanted to hug her, but she shook her head. “Don’t come near me.”

“Sandy, I’m still me!”

“You’re a vampire. You’re one of them now.” She pushed past him and entered the living room, heading for the door.

“Sandy!”

“Stay away from me, Jared,” she said, softly. She passed the others, not giving them a glance. She didn’t see Sadie move, blocking the door. “Oh my God!”

“Don’t cause him any trouble, little girl,” Sadie hissed at her, frowning.

“Sadie, this isn’t helping,” Jared said, walking towards them. He gently moved Sadie to the side and opened the door for Sandy. “I’m still me, okay? I haven’t changed. You don’t have to be scared of me, you’ve known me for a long time.”

“I thought I knew you,” she said, then looked at Sadie, Harley, Tom, and Mike. She turned her brown eyes to him and made an intensely ugly face. “I don’t know you anymore.”

Jared wanted to call her back; wanted to make her understand. He never could figure out how people acted so hatefully. He never realized that Sandy was one of those people who would always fear and hate vampires for no other reason than that they were different.

“You don’t need humans like her in your life,” Sadie said, pulling Jared back inside and closing the door. “She will never accept us.”

Jared pressed his forehead against the door and then took a breath, a cold shiver falling down his back. He turned to look at Tom and Mike. “Sandy’s going to put this on her show; we need to call Kristen and set up a press conference. I don’t want Sandy’s version of what happened to be on first. I know what kind of spin she’ll put on it and I won’t let her use me like that to push forward her own agenda.”

“Are you sure? I mean, she’s tabloid fodder – we can always release a statement saying that she was full of shit--“ Michael said, standing up.

Tom was already on his Blackberry with Kristen. “Yeah, come to Jared’s. It’s big news, a powwow.”

“No, I don’t have the luxury of letting this story break with anyone else. It has to be from me. Plus, I don’t want to hide who and what I am,” Jared said, biting his lip. “I want to have the press conference here.”

“In the condo?” Michael said, then smiled. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. We’ll get the networks and print journalists. Kristen will get it out online. We’ll use your blog and let it go viral.” He pulled out his Blackberry and started his own contacts.

Jared nodded. He sat down and Harley pressed his against Jared’s leg and rubbed gently.

“Oh shit!” Jared shouted, sitting up straight.

“What?” Michael said, looking at him.

“I have to tell my parents!”

***

Jared stared at the television screen, flipping through the four major news channels, watching all the snippets and sound bytes of his press conference. For once, he stayed on the script that Tom, Mike, and Kristen wrote – short, to the point, and not controversial. He fielded the questions aggressively, making sure not to put blame on anyone, and made sure that the vampire communities wouldn’t face any backlash for what happened. He talked briefly of Gordon and that Jared did receive justice for what Gordon did, but he didn’t go into specifics. He thought that it went well.

They unplugged the phone and closed the blinds – just in case.

And Jared had spent two hours on the telephone with his parents, some of it in tears, and the rest of it reassuring them that he was still their son, but just that he was their vampire son now. He promised to visit them soon.

He hated making his mother cry. His dad hadn’t said too much, too in shock.

Jared sat on his bed, wiping his face. He really wished…well, if wishes were horses.

And he felt that warmth, filling him. There was a knock at the door and Jared knew it was Jensen.

“Come in,” he called, closing his eyes.

Jensen opened the door and stepped inside, holding a small suitcase in his hand. “I brought your things back.”

“Thanks,” he said, sitting up.

“I saw the news – it’s been a tough day for you – a tough few days,” Jensen said, walking closer towards him.

Oh God, Jared wanted nothing more than to throw Jensen on the bed, rip his clothes off, and bite-fuck-sex-pain-blood-pleasure-now-fucking mine-mine-mine…

“Sure.” He said, tightly.

Jensen sighed, sitting on the bed. “I can feel your blood craving from here, Jared. You don’t have to deny yourself. I won’t ever turn you away.”

“I can’t, Jensen,” he said, shaking his head. “I want it – I want you all the time – but I can’t help but think that you’re family and—“

“We are family,” Jensen said, growling slightly. “Human or vampire – it’s blood!”

Jared gave a helpless giggle, shaking his head. “Did you sleep with all of the children you blood turned?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“No,” Jared said, frowning slightly. He stared at Jensen and inhaled deeply, scenting him. “God, you smell so good.”

Jensen moved closer, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt, pulling it aside at the neck. “Come here, Jared. Let me give you what you need.”

Jared mentally drooled at the sight of Jensen offering his neck, hungry for him in so many ways, and he lunged at Jensen, no finesse at all, and snagged his fangs into the soft flesh of Jensen’s neck, sucking and drinking and sucking and drinking to get his fill. He held Jensen close, kissing his neck, licking up to bite his earlobe, and kissing his mouth, tasting everything he could. He felt Jensen’s fangs tear into his tongue, and Jensen sucked on his tongue, pulling the blood out.

When Jensen groaned, Jared had enough sense to pull away, wiping his mouth with his hand. He fell back against the headboard, distancing himself from Jensen. He only took enough to stop the craving.

Jared gave a snort, turning away. “Yeah, I’m still hot for you, Jensen; but it’s kind of creepy for me, too.”

“All right,” Jensen said, giving a soft sigh. He fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “I’m so damned tired, Jared.” He turned his head and looked at Jared, smiling. “But how do I retire from being a Primogenitor? How do I walk away from my duties to the city as the vampire Elder? My own rules and laws keep me bound to a life that I no longer want or need. Can you understand that?”

“Is that why you’ve made me your heir?”

“I made you my heir because you are my heir, Jared,” he said, chuckling softly. “I think I would like to see you at the head of my family and leader of this city. You, the youngest of them all, would do better at taking what we are and what we have into the next millennia.”

“But how can you be sure? You must have other human family still alive.”

“I do, but it’s only in your blood that I can taste my lineage, taste my blood,” Jensen said, moving to his side, looking at Jared.

“In one of my many holdings – obviously, you didn’t read the contracts that Christian brought you today – I’m sure I have several research labs. The modern world is so incredible and we’ve come a long way in understanding vampire medicine and vampire genetics. Whenever I’ve encountered members of my human bloodline, I’ve taken DNA samples and have them tested and matched to mine. While they have many of the identifying markers, proving that they are descended from me; your blood markers have nearly all of the ones as mine.”

“Okay, if the whole great-grandfather thing didn’t creep me out before, this just creeped me out on a level that I can’t even describe, Jensen. Seriously! Vampire genetics! Oh my God!”

“I think of it as a vampire paternity test – in seventeen generations.”

“Gross,” Jared said, making a face at him.

“I had to be sure. I need an heir, Jared. You’re a new child, but you live in this modern world. My children and I, we’re still bound to the era that we were born in, even though we’ve mastered the act of blending in. We’re out-dated, archaic, and unready to face this future. You’re not afraid; you’re a man of this century. My family needs you.”

“They’ll never think I’m equal to them.” Jared said, sighing. He couldn’t believe he was considering it.

“You’re my blood – my human and vampire heir – they won’t have a choice but to respect it. I’ve trained them well to respect blood lineage,” Jensen said, smiling to himself.

“I’m not ready for something like that, Jensen. I may never be ready for it,” Jared told him, softly.

“I know. Just think about it. Let me be your guide, Jared.” Jensen stretched out his hand towards Jared, a small smile on his face.

Jared looked at Jensen, adored the freckles and the crows feet at the corners of his green eyes. He touched Jensen’s fingers and stroked his palm, caressing him. “Yeah. Okay.”

Kristen knocked on the door, opening it. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you need to see this, Jared.”

Jared scrambled off the bed and followed her into the living room. They had the television on and Sandy was on the screen. Jared saw that she wasn’t her usual happy-go-lucky entertainment journalist/roving city news reporter. This was a somber, serious, and dangerous Sandy with an agenda.

“Earlier today, City Councilman Jared Padalecki held a press conference to announce that he was a newly turned vampire, a last option after he was attacked by a vampire behind The Sanctuary, one of the city’s hottest mixed clubs. But what he didn’t tell you was that he was forced to become a vampire. The vampire Elder, Jensen Ackles, killed Jared Padalecki in order to turn him into a vampire. There is obviously a break down in trust between our community and the vampire community. We know Jared Padalecki to be a vocal advocate of vampire rights – but is it safe for humans and vampires to live together? Put it this way, if the Councilman isn’t safe from vampire attacks, then who is? Stay tuned for more news in the city. And Jared, our prayers are with you.”

*****

“…And Jared, our prayers are with you.”

Jared stared at the television screen, his teeth clenched. He could not believe her! He didn’t want to believe that she was capable of this; but now, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Sandy was lost to him, that she betrayed him. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, felt the primal urge as his fangs extended inside his mouth, and he knew his eyes would be glowing.

“That bitch!” Michael yelled, turning off the television and throwing the remote control on the couch.

“Damage control,” Tom said, putting his hand on Michael’s arm, pulling him close. “Shhh…this isn’t the time.”

“I can have a press release out in fifteen minutes,” Kristen said, walking across the room and picking up her Blackberry.

“Let me take care of her, vampire Elder,” Sadie hissed, turning to Jensen. “I can make it so her body will never be found!”

“You need to get back on camera, Jared, and make sure that you shut her up,” Michael said, pulling out his Blackberry.

Jared stared at the darkened television set and took a deep breath. He knew Sandy would take a step against him, but he never thought it would be to this extent. “She’s ruined everything,” he said, softly. He turned to Tom. “What are my political options?”

“We can fucking sue her for slander to start; get her fired from the network,” Michael hissed, thumbing through his Blackberry. “She’s not fucking this up for all of us!”

“National news will pick up her sound byte. It’s too juicy to just stay local,” Kristen said, shortly.

“My parents are going to freak out,” Jared said, sighing. “And after I reassured them that everything was fine—“

“There is another option,” Jensen said, very quietly. Jared saw everyone stop and turned to Jensen.

“Jensen, if you released a statement on behalf of the vampire community, I think it could go a long way to making sure that human and vampire ties stay strong,” Kristen said, nodding.

Jensen smiled, shaking his head. He turned to look at Jared. “Marry me. And I offer you a blood claim.”

Jared blinked. What? “What? Blood claim! Marry – what?”

Michael, Tom, Kristen, Sadie and Harley stopped and turned to look at them. A second later, the room erupted in noise.

“This is fucking perfect!”

“We can have this on the ten o’clock news. I can get everyone into the press room and…”

“It’s a brilliant move.”

Jared just stared at Jensen, who regarded him with a small, amused smile. “Are you fucking kidding?”

“No, I’m not.” Jensen said, walking towards him. “Listen, San Francisco is a safe haven and it has been for five decades. The people who live in this city – humans and vampires – have fought long and hard for tolerance and acceptance. It’s one of the reasons why I chose this city. I don’t believe we need to do any damage control. Sandy’s broadcast won’t make a great impact – unless you give her more fuel. Jared, you and I can show that our alliance is strong with a civil union.”

Jared couldn’t breathe. He swallowed and choked on words he didn’t even know to say. He grabbed Jensen’s arm and pulled him towards the bedroom. “Please excuse us for a moment. We really need to talk.”

Jensen followed him into the bedroom and Jared closed the door, leaning on it.

“God, Jensen, I appreciate what you’re trying to do but marriage and…and a blood claim, whatever that is, that’s not the answer.”

“A civil union shows our dedication to each other in the eyes of human laws; and a blood claim shows our unity to the vampire community.” He said, softly. “It’s a good option. This would allow me to legally give you more responsibilities in the city and you take on a vested position within both communities. They would accept you as my equal in all things, Jared. You would have the same powers and respect as a vampire Elder.”

“I really don’t understand,” Jared said, shaking his head, frowning. He stared at the ground, wondering why Jensen would want to do this. It sounded very, very serious. Like a no-going-back kind of serious. He watched as Jensen walked closer to him, putting his hand over Jared’s heart. “Why would you do this?”

Jensen smiled up at him. “Why do any two people make that kind of commitment? Why wouldn’t I do it? I love you. I have for years.”

Jared froze, swallowing. He blinked, trying to make his brain think of something. He cleared his throat, trying to swallow past the sudden tightness. He attempted to smile back at Jensen, but his…oh my God, did Jensen just say he loved me? Oh shit!

“I…Jensen…that’s…”

Jensen patted him on the chest and stepped back, raising his eyebrow. “Well, now you have something to really think about. I’ll be at my residence. Let me know what you decide. Take as much time as you need, okay?”

Jared nodded, moving aside so that Jensen could leave. Jensen closed the door behind him and Jared slid down the door to sit on the floor, pulling his long legs close to his chest. He couldn’t believe how much his life changed in the span of just a week.

***

Jared sat on a chair, out on the balcony, and stared out at the city. Tom and Kristen were speaking quietly, making contingency plans in case Jared didn’t want to take the marriage option. Michael paced in the kitchen, probably plotting ways to make Sandy disappear. Harley and Sadie were in the living room, keeping their distance and watching Jared silently. Jared just needed time alone to think.

This was so big; he didn’t even know where to start.

Marry Jensen, who was a distant blood relation, and allow him to be blood claimed. Marry Jensen. Oh God, what the hell? What the hell? He couldn’t marry Jensen! He couldn’t! It wasn’t possible. He…Jensen loved him. How was he supposed to deal with this?

And most importantly, did he love Jensen?

He was attracted to Jensen, obviously, and he liked Jensen; but love? And marriage? Jared didn’t think he was quite there. He wanted to have some more time to consider this, but Michael, Tom, and Kristen believed that it was the right thing to do. He trusted them. He knew they wouldn’t let him be reckless; he trusted that they would protect him as always, as human or as vampire. But…Jensen was the wild card. He didn’t know Jensen’s motivation in all this. Yes, he believed Jensen loved him. Jared could honestly say that everything Jensen did, despite Jared’s protestations, because Jensen felt deeply for him.

But Jared didn’t know if he loved Jensen enough to do something this monumental. He couldn’t see all the angles because he was too close to it. He didn’t know anyone else he could talk to about this objectively. Michael, Tom, and Kristen were too in favor of it, never minding what they thought they knew about his and Jensen’s relationship.

Did he love Jensen enough?

“Tom,” Jared called, leaning into the room. “I need to talk to you.”

Tom stepped out on the balcony and took the chair beside him. “I’m always here for you.”

“Tell me about a blood claim. What is it?”

“It’s best compared to a human marriage,” Tom said, taking a deep breath. “Not many vampires make a blood claim because the claim is immortal, like us. There’s no divorce from a blood claim. Two vampires make it together, in front of two witnesses, and share blood. It’s a commitment made in blood.”

“What about the times when Jensen and I shared blood with each other? How’s that different?”

Tom leaned back and smiled. “It’s the intention behind it, Jay. When two vampires, in front of two witnesses, make a promise to each other and then share blood, it’s binding. Only vampires who love each other deeply make a commitment like this.”

Jared nodded, scratching his neck. “Okay, I get that. I mean, I know that Jensen feels deeply for me—“

“He loves you, Jay. He wouldn’t make a blood claim to just anyone.”

“I’m his grandson sixteen times removed,” Jared whispered, shaking his head.

“And if Jensen was never turned, he would only be a distant ancestor, not your lover, not your Primogenitor.” Tom replied, shrugging. “There’s nothing written that prevents you from being happy.”

“This is so messed up.”

“Yeah,” Tom said, chuckling softly. “But consider his proposal. It wasn’t made lightly. And Jensen is if anything but pragmatic in all things, even when it comes to love. Usually, a blood claim is made by two vampires; but Jensen’s no ordinary vampire, he’s a vampire Elder and a powerful vampire. If you agree to the blood claim, you become his Regent vampire Elder. You could rule the city in his place, create and enforce rules and laws in his name, and the vampires of the community will respect that. You become equal to Jensen in the eyes of vampire law. That’s not a power that Jensen would offer to anyone.”

“In all the centuries that he’s lived, he’s never made a blood claim?” It was too hard to believe.

“No,” Tom said, cocking his head. “You’re the first…and only.”

“Only?”

“It’s immortal.”

“And when you say immortal…”

“It really is death do us part,” he said, laughing softly. “You’d be stuck with each other until your deaths.”

“Shit.”

Tom waggled his eyebrows. “Yeah, hence the reasons why vampires don’t take a blood claim lightly.”

“Have you ever been a witness to a blood claim ceremony?”

Tom shook his head. “No, it’s such a rarity in our world, only a handful of vampires have stood as witnesses. You should talk to Christian, he’s witnessed two.”

“I don’t think Christian will be all that forthcoming with me,” Jared said, snorting. “That guy hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you. Chris is very loyal to Jensen – long story – and he’s helped Jensen through some really hard times.” Tom said, looking at Jared. “I think you should ask him about it. He can tell you more than I can. Really, Jay, I think it’s wonderful. You’d make Jensen happy and I know he could make you very happy. It’s up to you and how you feel about him.”

Yeah, that was the question. Did he love Jensen?

***

“Come in.”

Jared opened the door to Christian’s office at The Sanctuary and gave the other vampire a small smile. “Hi. Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”

“Are you here with the contracts?” Christian asked, not looking up at him. He was sitting at his desk, a small lamp turned on, looking over sheaves of papers.

“No.”

“Then why are you here?”

Jared closed the door and stepped further into the room. “Jensen asked me to marry him in a civil union and he offered to blood claim me.”

Christian dropped his pen and glared up at Jared. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.” Jared said, sitting down across from Christian. “Tom said that you stood witness to two blood claim ceremonies.”

“You’re more dangerous than I first suspected, Jared,” he said, softly. “I never expected Jensen to do something like this.” He sighed, running his hand over his face, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. “It’s blood entitlement. With Jensen’s blood claim, you don’t have to sign the contracts; it’s all yours by the right of blood.”

“I don’t want anything, Christian. I’m not out to get whatever I can from him. This happened to me, right? He blood turned me without asking me if this is what I wanted. I woke up and he was feeding me his blood. So cut the bullshit and just talk to me.” He really wanted to punch the other vampire in the face.

Christian smirked, staring at Jared. “Huh. Maybe I was wrong about you.”

“Come on, just tell me what I need to know, okay?”

“It goes deeper than just being married to a vampire,” he said, sighing deeply. “It’s mating for life. You’re entitled to everything Jensen owns and everything Jensen is – it belongs to you. There’s nothing in human law or vampire law that can take that away. And for immortals like us, Jared, mating for life is a very long, long time. It’s until death.”

“Yeah,” Jared said, nodding. “That’s what Tom said. But what didn’t he tell me?”

“A blood claim is a once in a lifetime deal. I’ve stood witness to two blood claims in my lifetime. One couple, they’re still together and going strong into their second century; but the other couple, he told his life mate that he made a mistake and left her. She eventually killed herself out of sheer grief. So that’s the future, Jared, that’s your future with Jensen.”

“I’m not going to kill myself,” Jared said, snorting.

“Wasn’t talking about you, was I?”

Jared stared at him for a long time, letting it sink in. “Does Jensen love me that much?”

“Yeah, enough to damn himself to a life of misery with you.”

“Thanks,” Jared drawled, making a face at him.

“So I know how Jensen feels, what I don’t know is how you feel about my boy. You willing to damn him to a life like that, Jared? You think you’re worthy of him? Because I can tell you that you’re not worthy of him.” Christian said, smirking.

“You know what, fuck you Christian,” Jared said, standing. He didn’t use his height to his advantage, but he loomed over Christian and stared at him. “You don’t know fuck all about me. I’m trying to do the right thing here and I’ve come to you for advice and all you do is give me bullshit. I do care for him, right, I do! And it’s a big decision for me, too! I’m trying to save both of us the grief of doing something crazy before it’s too late. I don’t fucking need you on my back about this. I came here because I know he trusts you and I get that he’s important to you! I just want to get everything out in the open before I make a decision.”

Christian laughed, his face turning red. He laughed for a long time, glancing at Jared. Jared just stared at him, shaking his head.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“God, boy, you really are too easy,” Christian said, wiping his eyes. “I just think you might be what Jensen needs in his life. Fuck knows that he’s had it dull for a century or two.”

Jared just stared at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Why don’t you go talk to him, huh? He’s up in his residence.” Christian said, his voice returning to no nonsense business. He picked up his pen and started reading the papers on his desk again, dismissing Jared completely.

Asshole.

Jared shook his head, throwing his hands in the air, and left Christian’s office. He headed to the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. He stepped inside, then took a moment to gaze at the floor buttons. Taking a deep breath and making a decision, he pressed the number five and placed this thumb on the finger print scanner. The elevator doors closed.

***

He saw Jensen sitting on his couch, staring at papers on the coffee table. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he murmured, smiling.

“What’re you doing?”

“Come on over,” Jensen said, reaching for a box and setting in on the floor by his foot.

Jared crossed the room and sat down, looking at the various black and white photographs and old time daguerreotypes strewn across the glass table. There were images from a number of different eras and periods, based on the clothes that Jensen and other people wore. He picked up one that caught his eye. It was probably during the 1950s or so and Jensen looked kind of geeky in his suit and fedora type of hat. Jared laughed softly, looking at Jensen.

“You really shouldn’t wear hats.”

Jensen took the picture from him and grinned. “Men in that time wore hats all the time. I would’ve looked silly without one.” Jensen snorted, tossing the picture on the table. “Yeah, I really shouldn’t wear a hat.”

“I can’t even name all the time periods,” Jared said, enjoying the collection. “This is beautiful.” He pointed to a charcoal drawing of Jensen in profile.

“Hmmm…John Sargent…probably 1890s. He called it ‘A Vampire’s Mug.’”

Jared grinned. “This would be worth a fortune…not that you need a fortune…”

“It’s priceless to me,” Jensen said, smiling.

“You know, it’s funny that you haven’t blood turned someone like him, you know, to preserve his talent forever,” Jared said, only half jokingly.

“Who says that I didn’t blood turn those like John?”

Jared looked at him for a long moment, wondering if he should take Jensen seriously. “I think it would be kind of obvious if a guy started painting portraits in the same style as John Singer Sargent.”

“No, not if the artist really wanted to explore his other creative options. John became a master of portraits at a young age. He was getting quite bored in his later years. I sat for him a few times; one of my children has one of the portraits he did of me. He knew I was a vampire and he wanted to capture me on canvas, even though he knew that I’d always have the same face. It was a challenge for him; but he grew bored of what he was asked to do and only painted for the money.”

“So you…turned him?”

“No,” Jensen said, smiling. “I did make him the offer once or twice, but he turned me down.”

Jared looked at Jensen’s memories spread out on the table. “I talked to Christian and Tom about the blood claim.”

“I knew you would.”

“Christian said that I’d make you miserable.”

Jensen snorted, laughing softly. “Yeah, he really doesn’t trust anyone easily.”

“So if we do this – if you blood claim me, do I have a claim on you, too? Does it work both ways?”

Jensen turned to look at him. “You’re not a slave, Jared. Being blood claimed doesn’t mean slavery. It’s just a very long commitment.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Of course you have a blood claim on me. It does go both ways.”

“I just wanted to be sure,” he said, reaching out to stroke the back of Jensen’s head. He could feel the fire curling in his stomach, spreading out through his body as soon as he touched Jensen.

“If anything, I’d be a slave for you,” Jensen murmured, his eyes lowering slightly, looking at Jared’s mouth.

“God, you’re so fucking gorgeous,” Jared said, pulling him close and kissing him. “You’re no slave, Jensen.”

Jared pressed him until Jensen was sprawled on the couch under him. He moved so that he covered Jensen’s body, taking his hands and holding them above his head. Jensen grinned, licking his lips, and Jared kissed him again, slow and thoughtful, just tasting Jensen’s mouth and playing against his tongue.

“I can’t believe that it’s only been a week since everything began,” Jared said, softly. He looked into Jensen’s green eyes. “It seems like…that first night you brought me here, like this, it feels like it was years ago.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jensen murmured, lifting his head to nip at Jared’s chin. “You lose your sense of time as a vampire. It’s just one long stretch.”

“How do you deal with it?” Jared moved slightly so that he could tuck his knees between Jensen’s legs, snuggling down and pushing Jensen’s thighs apart to make room.

“Day by day,” he said, chuckling deeply.

Jared nipped his ear, making Jensen huff out what sounded like a sigh and a laugh. “Let me have you, Jensen. I want to fuck you.”

“Yeah,” he said, closing his eyes and pressing up against Jared. “Anything you want.”

*****

Jared sank into Jensen’s body, again and again, and he shut his eyes, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, shuddering in pleasure. He could have this, for always. He could have Jensen. He held himself up, keeping his arms straight, and thrust inside Jensen again, hard, his own toes curling as he gasped, trying to hold back.

Jensen clung to him, arching up every time Jared’s cock slid inside Jensen’s heat. Jared opened his eyes to see Jensen’s head flung back on the bed, mouth open, fangs descended. His skin was flushed and sweat beaded across his forehead, dampening Jensen’s hair.

Fucking gorgeous, so fucking gorgeous. Jensen was his – just like this, every time, completely his now.

Jared swept his tongue inside Jensen’s mouth, scraping it hard against the tips of the fangs, and Jensen squeezed around him, moaning loudly when he tasted Jared’s blood.

“Fuck…fuck me harder…” Jensen gasped, opening his eyes slightly to look up at Jared.

Jared fell to his elbows, weaving his fingers into Jensen’s hair, holding him still. He dug his knees into the mattress and rocked hard into Jensen, both of them grunting. Jared knew Jensen was close. He felt Jensen’s hard cock pressed between them, sliding against slippery flesh. An eternity of this, feeling like this, inside of Jensen, making him come, making him want. He tucked his knees closer to Jensen’s ass, pushing his hips in quick succession, his cock barely pulling out.

“Jared—“

Jared pressed his face against Jensen’s neck and bit him hard, feeling Jensen’s body jerk under him, legs bracing against Jared’s thighs. Jared drank deeply, growling between swallows, as a part of him yelled in victory hearing Jensen’s gurgled sounds of pleasure. He kept drinking and drinking, feeling Jensen shake and tremble, giving into his pleasure, limbs locked around him. Jared fucked him through it, jerkily driving his cock into and into Jensen’s body, biting down when he lost control and shuddered hard once, twice against Jensen.

“God, fuck, enough, enough!” Jensen called out, hoarsely.

Jared pulled his mouth away, gasping. He quivered, lifting his head to look at Jensen. His eyes were closed, the long lashes twitching against his face. Jensen’s mouth was wet with his own blood where he tore into his lips. Jared leaned down and licked the blood, muffling Jensen’s soft gasp. He grabbed him by the hair, pulling his face and looked at Jensen.

“Open your eyes,” he said, his own voice gravelly.

Jensen’s eyes flickered and opened, unfocused and so very, very green.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“Yes to what?” Jensen said, whispering back.

“Yes to all of it – the marriage, the blood claim, and being your heir. Yes, Jensen.”

“You sure? You don’t have to say yes to all of it.”

Jared released Jensen’s hair and stroked his face. “I know.”

******

Jensen rubbed his neck, feeling the ghost of Jared’s bite. He was regretful that the marks would heal, that his vampire nature would always bring him back to the same body he was blood turned in. Immortality had its delights – all of which Jensen sampled in his long life – but a part of him wished that he could wear a lover’s marks.

“I know what’s in your heart, Jensen.”

He looked across his desk and smiled at Christian. “You’re worse than a mother hen, Chris.”

“I’m just worried about you.” Christian said, sighing. “Marry him, Jen, but don’t blood claim him. He doesn’t love you the same way.”

Jensen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know, Chris.”

“Then why?”

“Because it’s what needs to be done,” Jensen told him, his voice firm.

Christian met his eyes, unafraid. “I will always support and honor your decisions, Jensen; but you still have time to change your mind.”

Jensen nodded, looking at the documents on his desk. He couldn’t concentrate. In just a few hours, he and Jared would meet at City Hall and take their vows in the eyes of man, and then later, they would take their blood claim and seal their immortal lives. He never expected Jared to say yes to all of it. He hoped that Jared would want it; he was glad…but his happiness was slightly bittersweet.

“Have you considered that you’re acting selfishly?” Christian said, sharply. Jensen flicked his eyes at his Consigliere Personale. “He’ll never be free either. Are you sure he’s ready for what you’re doing to him?”

“We neither of us have a choice anymore. I’ve sealed his fate; and he’ll seal mine.” Jensen leaned forward and took Christian’s hand. “I’ve never known anyone more loyal than you, Chris. You’ve stood steadfastly beside me through everything; I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t by my side. You’ll never know how much I love you and how grateful I’ve always been for your friendship, your love, and your protection. But this is the right thing to do. It’s all that I have left to do. Can you understand that?”

“What about you?”

Jensen smiled, squeezing Christian’s hand and moving into his seat. “You know I always find my way.”

“Yeah, stubborn ass.” Christian muttered, smirking.

Jensen chuckled loudly, leaning forward against his desk. “Now come on, help me finish this. I want to have it all done before I leave.”

“I’m honored, Jen, that you’ve asked me to stand by you during your civil union; and to stand witness at your blood claim,” Christian said, his voice low and solemn.

“I’m the one who’s honored.”

Jensen gave his oldest friend a long look, smiling at him. He remembered when they first met in 1917, during the First Great War. They were both fighting on the side of the Americans and Jensen was exceptionally pleased to meet another vampire. Together, they took the riskiest jobs in their platoon, knowing that they could survive everything except for a beheading. Jensen and Christian were often sent out into the field, in the dead of night, to sabotage German strongholds and break the line. He and Christian fed well on the Germans. In the winters, they huddled for warmth and talked about what they could remember of their human lives.

Jensen was immune to the horrors of war, already jaded in his age. But Christian was starting to show signs of being tired to his bones. When the war ended in 1918, Jensen took Christian to Canada where they worked as loggers. The physical labors gave Christian something else to think about; and during the nights, he welcomed Christian into his bunk to pass a few hours in pleasure.

They were lovers, off and on, for a number of decades; but Jensen knew that Christian wasn’t in love with him. They loved each other, but not enough to commit. Christian played guitar and wrote ballads, charmed women everywhere he went, but he never allowed himself to settle. Jensen knew there was a story there, but he didn’t push Christian to tell him. He deserved to keep his secrets.

“I have one favor to ask.”

“Name it, boy.”

Jensen’s lips quirked in amusement. “Show Jared the same love and loyalty that you’ve always shown me.”

“I’m going to make him work for it, Jen. He has to prove himself.”

“You know that he’s worth it.”

Christian shrugged, scratching his chin. “He’s young, but he’s accomplished much for us; I’ll give him a chance, Jen, but he’s going to earn it.”

Jensen grinned. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you; or from Jared.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Christian said, smirking. “Never thought I’d see the day you get all gushy for someone.”

“Well, you live long enough, you see it all.” Jensen said, laughing. He looked across at Christian who was turning red, unable to hold in his laugh as well.

***

Jensen walked into the license office and grinned, seeing Jared. His child was tall and beautiful, nervously adjusting his necktie and scratching at the back of his head like a kid. He was pleased to see that Jared invited Tom to be his witness and nodded to the other vampire.

“You ready to do this?” Jensen said, looking up at Jared.

Jared’s face turned slightly pink and he nodded, licking his lips. “Yeah.”

They completed the civil union license forms, signing their names, and submitted it to clerk at the counter. She was young, smiling up at them, stamping the pages and taking his money.

“Are you two ready?” She said, softly. “You can go in next. Judge Gavin is waiting in the room.”

Jensen grinned at her and turned to Jared. “Now or never.”

“Now,” Jared said, laughing. “Now is good.”

“Come on, you big old romantic you,” Jensen said, nodding his thanks to the clerk and taking Jared by the hand. Christian and Tom followed them into the room.

Jensen shook hands with the Judge, introducing Jared, Christian and Tom.

“Do you have your own vows?”

Jensen looked at Jared and they both stared at each other with wide eyes. In all the hectic rush, Jensen had forgotten to write vows. From Jared’s expression, it looked like he did, too. “We actually…uh…no.”

“It’s quite all right. We can wing it when the time comes,” the Judge said, chuckling at them. “When you’re ready.”

Jensen stood in front of Jared and smiled, giving him a quick wink of support. Jared rolled his eyes at him and grinned, biting his lip. “We’re ready now.”

“Friends, we are here today to share in the joy of this occasion. On this day of your union, you promise to stand apart from all others. You stand within the circle of your love. From this day forward, you promise to love one another in sickness and health; for better or worse; but at the same time, your love should give you strength to stand apart, seek out your unique destinies, and make your special contribution to the world which is always part of us and more than us. Be assured that you are aware of the meaning of this union…”

Jensen didn’t remember the rest of the ceremony. He looked at Jared, remembering the solemn look on his face, shyly repeating the vows that the Judge spoke and the weight of the titanium ring on his finger. He saw the blush creeping up Jared’s cheeks, shaking his unruly long bangs and hiding behind them. Jensen grinned, reaching up and grabbing the back of Jared’s neck and pulling him down for a long kiss. He laughed, giving him a hug, patting him on his back. Jared laughed, too, whispering in his ear the whole time, ‘oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…’

Christian and Tom shook their hands and hugged them in turn, congratulating them. They thanked the Judge for giving them a special ceremony. He signed their license and said that it would be filed by close of business.

I sealed his fate; and he’ll seal mine.

Jensen took his hand and led him into the hallway, followed by Christian and Tom. Outside, they would have to face the legion of press and paparazzi waiting for them. Jensen knew that Jared would be the one to speak on their behalf. The city’s press corps loved Jared – this would be big news.

“Kristen told me to keep it simple and to just smile and look like I had great sex,” Jared confided as they walked towards the main doors.

Jensen laughed, deeply. He was so pleased. This wasn’t what he had expected for either of them; he wished he had more time, but he knew this was the right decision. He would never regret it.

“Jared.”

They stopped, turning to find Sandy standing near the doors. Jensen controlled the urge to rip her throat out. He could feel Jared tense beside him and he squeezed Jared’s hand to show support and to keep calm.

“What are you doing here?” Jared asked, his voice tight. “How can you show your face to me after what you tried to do? I thought you were my friend.”

She looked at Jared, her eyes moving to see him holding Jensen’s hand. She looked at Jensen. He wanted to smirk and taunt her, but he could see the true sadness in her eyes. It was a look of loss and being lost. He couldn’t hate her; he couldn’t destroy her – there was nothing left to destroy.

“I only wanted to protect you,” she said, softly. “It was never to hurt you. The truth had to be told – you’re just too blind to see it.”

“I’m not – God, I can’t do this right now, Sandy. I’ve joined Jensen in a civil union. Your attempt to destroy him didn’t work. I can’t…I don’t know what you were thinking; you didn’t do it to protect me. You hurt me, Sandy. I trusted you and you…you betrayed me.” Jared said, softly. Jensen could see all the anger drain out of him. He knew Jared could see what Jensen saw – she was a lost girl, hiding behind her love for Jared instead of facing the world and moving on.

In a way, Jensen felt compassion for her. In time, Jared would also face the world and move on from Jensen. He believed that Jared only accepted this new role in his life because he wanted to keep the peace between humans and vampires. He wanted to believe it…because Jensen wanted him to believe it – Jensen’s power to overcome Jared’s doubts – he had planted a seed into Jared’s mind, helping it grow and grow until Jared couldn’t tell the difference between his own desire and Jensen’s influence.

Jensen met Sandy’s eyes. Let him go. Let it all go. Find your own way. He saw her eyes dull for a moment, and she blinked and focused again. She looked at Jensen for a long moment, and then nodded.

“Good bye, Jared,” she said, walking away.

Jared just stared after her for a moment, confused. Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand, turning his attention to him. “Come on, your public awaits.”

Jared flashed him a beautiful smile, showing his dimples and glittering eyes. Jensen returned the smile.

They pushed open the doors and the bank of flashbulbs and people shouting questions at them was nearly overwhelming. Harley and Sadie moved close to them. They were stationed by the doors, waiting for Jared. Christian stayed close to Jensen and Tom tried to clear the way for them to the awaiting limo.

“Jared! Is this civil union legit?”

“When did you decide to get married?”

“Was your decision to get married due to the fact that you were blood turned?”

Jared took Jensen’s hand and smiled out at them, shaking his head. “Come on, guys, I just got married. Do you really think I’m going to hang around and talk to you when I’d rather spend time with my husband?”

The press corps chuckled and Jensen gazed at Jared, smiling. He always enjoyed watching Jared on camera – from those early days when he would duck his head shyly and ramble into side stories; to now, poised, funny, in control. The human Jared was a strong foundation for the vampire Jared. His gifts would bloom even more, now that Jared would have the time to develop all of them, and Jensen would have a front row seat.

“No, no, you guys can get your answers after our honeymoon,” Jared said, laughing. He pulled Jensen closer as they moved down the steps towards the limo, Tom and Harley keeping the press at bay, Sadie moving to open the limo door for them.

Jensen made sure that Jared ducked inside first, following him. Christian, Tom, Harley and Sadie came inside, closing the door. He leaned against his seat, looking at his family, and just laughed, delighted by everything.

“’You guys can get your answers after our honeymoon?’” Tom mocked, snickering. “Kristen is seriously going to have words for you, the four-letter kind.”

“What are you talking about? It worked, didn’t it?” Jared said, laughing.

***

Jensen followed Jared into his condo, Christian and Tom behind them. Harley and Sadie always entered the room before Jared, so they were waiting in the living room when Jared and Jensen arrived.

“So…do you want to do the blood claim now or—“

“Come on, we can do this in the bedroom. Christian and Tom will be our witnesses,” he said, taking Jared’s hand.

“Uh…they’re going to watch?” Jared whispered urgently in Jensen’s ear.

“Well, they are witnesses.”

“Watch us have sex?”

Jensen chuckled, turning to face Jared. “Do you want them to?”

“No!”

Christian and Tom entered the bedroom and Tom closed the door. They stood in silence, waiting.

Jensen placed his hands on Jared’s shoulders, moving them to cup his face. “It’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m told that there is no official ceremony for the blood claim. For once, I don’t have to follow any archaic rules or laws of my own creation.”

Jared grinned, looking at him.

“From today, I share everything that I have with you. As your Primogenitor, I claimed your blood as my right; but now, I claim your blood as my choice. Will you share blood with me?”

Jared licked his lips, nodding. “Yes.”

Jensen smiled at him, then bared his neck for Jared. He closed his eyes and held him close, feeling the slide of Jared’s fangs into his flesh. He groaned, falling against him, and Jared held him tightly as he pulled mouthful after mouthful from him. Jared let out a soft groan, pulling his fangs away, licking at his skin.

“I was really scared about this day,” Jared whispered, pressing his forehead against Jensen’s. He closed his eyes. “I didn’t think I could do this; but I don’t have any regrets, Jensen. Will you share blood with me?”

“Always,” he said, licking up Jared’s neck and taking a slow bite into the muscle. Jared jerked in his arms and Jensen held him still, taking as much as he dared. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh against Jared’s neck, stroking his hair.

“Oh God,” he murmured, chuckling softly. “I think I need a moment.”

Christian and Tom laughed.

“Are we done?” Jared said, standing up and looking at Jensen.

“Yes.”

“That’s it?”

Jensen chuckled. “You really do like all the pomp and circumstance, don’t you?”

“It’s so anti-climatic. I always seem to expect more.” He said, blushing and rubbing his neck.

Jensen grinned, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “Witnesses, do you accept the blood claim?”

“We accept,” Christian and Tom said, softly.

Jensen nodded, then looked at Christian and Tom. He stepped away from Jared, giving him a small smile. “Then it’s done.”

“What is?”

“You stand as Regent vampire Elder of the city of San Francisco, Jared. And with my blood claim, I now give you Regent Primogenitor power over my children – they are your children now.”

“What?” Jared stared at him, shaking his head.

“Christian will stand as your Consigliere Personale for as long as you need him. He will guide you through all the vampire politics and protect you from everyone.” He looked at his friend and Christian nodded.

“Jensen? What are you talking about? I don’t want this.”

Jensen took a deep breath and stared at the floor. He raised his eyes to look at Jared, who wore a face of confusion. “I love you, more than you’ll ever know; and this is the only way I can free you, by giving you power over my entire domain.”

“No, I refuse! I don’t want it. Jensen, what the hell—“

Jensen walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. Harley and Sadie were standing, waiting. He gave them a nod as well. Sadie turned her sad face to him, near tears, but nodded her acceptance of his last order as her vampire Elder.

“Jensen, wait—“

Jensen turned to see Christian and Tom holding Jared back. “I always wanted you to have it all, Jared – my only regret is that we didn’t have more time.”

“Jensen, please—Tom, let me go!”

“I can’t! I’m sorry,” Tom said, holding Jared around his chest. Christian braced himself on the other side. “Jensen’s last orders as my vampire Elder.”

“Let me go, damn it!” Jared shouted, struggling. Harley and Sadie moved to hold him at bay. “Jensen! Jensen! Jensen, please!”

Jensen turned, looking at Jared one more time.

“Just tell me where you’re going! Jensen! Harley, Sadie, please! Stop him!”

“We can’t,” Sadie said, crying. “It was his last orders as our vampire Elder. We cannot disobey him.”

Jensen nodded to them, knowing that they would care for Jared, always steadfast and loyal to him. He regretted leaving, but he would return. He turned towards the door, opening it.

“Jensen, don’t leave me! Please!”

Jensen closed the door, closing his eyes. He could hear Jared shouting, trying to get free. He knew that they would obey his last orders to the letter.

He hurried out of Jared’s complex and stepped into the limo. Inside the cool darkness, Jensen stared at his trembling hands.

“Sir?”

“Take me to the airport.”

*****


End file.
